Note: Images are sourced from social media posts by President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Southern Command. The New York TimesThe U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs, killing dozens of people.This is a drastic departure from past practice. The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, has typically treated maritime drug smuggling in the Caribbean as a law enforcement problem, interdicting boats and arresting people for prosecution if suspicions of illicit cargo turn out to be correct.A broad range of legal specialists on the use of lethal force have said that the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even suspected criminals — who do not pose an imminent threat of violence. How the boat strike campaign evolved MonthStrikesKilledSept. 2025317Oct.1145Nov.721Dec.1440Jan. 202613Feb.825March312April722May511Total59196 The New York TimesThe White House has said the killings are lawful. In a notice to Congress, the administration said President Trump had “determined” that the United States is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels and that crews of drug-running boats are “combatants.”To the extent that it has supplied a legal theory to bridge the conceptual gulf between drug trafficking and an armed attack, it has pointed to the deaths of tens of thousands of American drug users each year from overdoses. But a surge in overdoses over the past decade was mostly caused by fentanyl that comes from labs in Mexico, not cocaine that comes on boats from South America.The New York Times is tracking the boat strikes as details become available. The strike locations and casualty figures are drawn from postings by Mr. Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, or the U.S. Southern Command, and have not been independently confirmed by The Times. Known U.S. strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since Sept. 2, 2025 Each entry is accompanied by an image taken from overhead of the boat or boats in the water shortly before the strike. DateAreaResultMay 27Pacific2 killedMay 26Pacific1 killed, 2 survivedMore › May 8Pacific3 killedMore › May 5Pacific3 killedMore › May 4Caribbean2 killedMore › April 26Pacific3 killedMore › April 24Pacific2 killedMore › April 19Caribbean3 killedMore › April 15Pacific3 killedMore › April 14Pacific4 killedMore › April 13Pacific2 killedMore › April 11Pacific5 killedMarch 25Caribbean4 killedMore › March 19Pacific2 killed, 1 rescuedMore › March 8Pacific6 killedMore › Feb. 23Caribbean3 killedMore › Feb. 20Pacific3 killedMore › Feb. 16Pacific4 killedMore › Feb. 16Pacific4 killedMore › Feb. 16Caribbean3 killedMore › Feb. 13Caribbean3 killedMore › Feb. 9Pacific3 killedMore › Feb. 5Pacific2 killedMore › Jan. 23Pacific3 killedMore › Dec. 31Unknown3 killedMore › Dec. 31Unknown2 killedMore › Dec. 30Pacific11 killedMore › Three people were killed during a strike on a boat that the U.S. Southern Command described as leading a three-boat convoy. The military said eight people were seen jumping off the next two boats before they were each struck. The Coast Guard searched in the Eastern Pacific for an undisclosed number of survivors, and found none. They are presumed dead. Dec. 29Pacific2 killedMore › Dec. 22Pacific1 killedMore › Dec. 18Pacific3 killedDec. 18Pacific2 killedDec. 17Pacific4 killedMore › Dec. 15Pacific3 killedMore › Dec. 15Pacific3 killedMore › Dec. 15Pacific2 killedMore › Dec. 4Pacific4 killedMore › Nov. 15Pacific3 killedMore › Nov. 12Caribbean4 killedMore › Nov. 9Pacific3 killedMore › Nov. 9Pacific3 killedMore › Nov. 6Caribbean3 killedMore › Nov. 4Pacific2 killedMore › Nov. 1Caribbean3 killedMore › Oct. 29Pacific4 killedMore › Oct. 27Pacific8 killedMore › Oct. 27Pacific4 killedMore › Oct. 27Pacific3 killedMore › Oct. 23Caribbean6 killedMore › Oct. 22Pacific3 killedMore › Oct. 21Pacific2 killedMore › Oct. 17Caribbean3 killedMore › Oct. 16Caribbean2 killed, 2 rescuedMore › Oct. 14Caribbean6 killedMore › Oct. 2Caribbean4 killedMore › Sept. 19Caribbean3 killedMore › Sept. 15Caribbean3 killedMore › Sept. 2Caribbean11 killedMore ›