Updated on: May 29, 2026 / 6:59 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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The death toll from the Trump administration's monthslong series of strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean has risen to at least 199 people after survivors of recent attacks were not found.The total includes at least 22 people who had survived an initial strike only to be hit again or die at sea during the campaign that began last September. That includes three people who survived two separate strikes this month, according to the U.S. military, including two people who survived a strike this week in the eastern Pacific.U.S. Southern Command says it notifies the U.S. Coast Guard of any survivors of such attacks, but those reports largely appear to be passed on to countries closer to the actual strike location.When asked about any recent search and rescue efforts, Mexico's navy said it had received an alert from the U.S. Coast Guard about the strikes this month but it did not mention survivors. The U.S. Coast Guard referred requests for more information to Mexico's authorities.The strikes have been contentious, with the Trump administration declaring that the U.S. is at war with Latin American drug cartels. The first attack in the campaign occurred on Sept. 2. In early December, however, the Trump administration came under heavy scrutiny after it confirmed a Washington Post report that in that Sept. 2 attack, the U.S. had conducted a follow-on strike, or "double tap," that killed two survivors of the initial strike on the vessel.Some lawmakers questioned whether the follow-on strike constituted a war crime.
