US Army announces targeting of "drug smuggling boat" in the Caribbean and the fall of 4

The U.S. military said on Sunday that 4 people were killed in a strike on a boat in the Caribbean, the latest in a series of attacks that Washington claims target "drug smuggling boats" in the Caribbean.

The U.S. Southern Command stated in a post on platform "X" that it "conducted a lethal strike on a fast boat that was operating on known drug smuggling routes in the Caribbean region."

It added that "confirmed intelligence indicated the boat was actively involved in drug trafficking. The operation resulted in the deaths of 4 terrorists involved in drug smuggling."

The administration of President Donald Trump claims that the ships targeted since September 2025 were transporting drugs.

U.S. strikes on such vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific have resulted in the deaths of more than 220 people.

Experts and human rights advocates in the United States and abroad question the legality of the strikes.

Last September, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie introduced articles to initiate impeachment proceedings against U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, accusing him of "abusing his position" by carrying out an order to conduct military operations against Iran without congressional approval, resulting in the deaths of at least 221 people who were on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, mostly in international waters.

Massie stated in the impeachment articles that Hegseth managed the Pentagon in a way that led to "extrajudicial killings," accusing him of "using military force without constitutional or legal authorization from Congress."

He added that Hegseth "replaced established maritime law enforcement practices with the use of lethal force by military forces, even though these missions fall under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies."

Massie also accused the Secretary of War of issuing orders to deny survivors the chance to surrender and not carrying out rescue operations, including launching additional strikes on survivors of shipwrecks and leaving others at sea.