Two men were killed in another series of operations against drug cartels in the Pacific. US Southern Command says the vessel was following known smuggling routes. This is the 107th strike since September, with Washington stepping up its military presence in the region, including the deployment of an aircraft carrier.
The US military announced on Monday that two people were killed in an attack on an alleged drug-smuggling ship in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The total number of interventions by the US against ships allegedly transporting drugs in the region thus increased to at least 107, TASR informs, according to an AFP report.
- The US military carried out an attack on a ship in the eastern Pacific.
- Two people died in the attack.
- The United States records more than a hundred operations against alleged smugglers.
The US has not provided evidence that the ships and their crew are involved in smuggling
US Southern Command said in a post on Platform X that “intelligence has confirmed that the vessel was transiting known drug-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was involved in drug-trafficking operations.” It added that two men lost their lives, writes AFP.
The post did not say where exactly the attack took place.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has carried out a number of such raids in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since September, but has provided no evidence that the ships and their crews are involved in drug trafficking, AFP notes.
Tlak in Madura
Tensions have been rising since the US government’s decision to attack smuggling ships in the Caribbean. The United States is strengthening its military presence in the region and has sent the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group there.
The US’s actions increase the pressure primarily on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom Washington accuses of leading a drug cartel. the latter rejects this and claims that Washington’s goal is actually regime change in the country.
Trump announced on Monday that the United States had struck and destroyed a dock in Venezuela that was allegedly used as a drug loading dock for smugglers’ ships.
