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WASHINGTON — The U.S. military launched a strike Friday on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people, U.S. Southern Command said. Southern Command posted a video on X showing a vessel afloat before an explosion left it ablaze and said the target lay along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence in the post that the boat carried narcotics. The strike is part of a campaign that has persisted since early September, in which the United States has destroyed alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters and the Caribbean Sea; officials say the operations have killed at least 183 people. Rights groups and experts have renewed questions about the legality and transparency of the attacks because the military has not publicly produced evidence that targeted vessels carried drugs. The campaign began as the U.S. built up its largest regional military presence in generations and preceded a January raid that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was taken to New York on drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty. President Donald Trump has described the effort as an "armed conflict" with cartels and has defended the strikes as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

Prepared by Emily Rhodes and reviewed by editorial team.