Military operation against vessels that the Trump administration accuses of drug trafficking has killed at least 187 people
The United States attacked a vessel in the Caribbean Sea on Monday (May 4, 2026), killing two people. The action is part of the military campaign of the president’s government (Republican Party) that began in September 2025. To date, there have been at least 55 offensives that have resulted in the deaths of 187 people.
On social media, the US Southern Command released a video that shows a projectile flying towards a vessel at sea. He stated that the boat was sailing along known drug trafficking routes and was involved in illegal activities, without providing evidence for these claims. “Two male narco-terrorists were killed during the action. No US military personnel were injured”says the agency in .
The attack was ordered by Marine Corps Gen. Francis L. Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Experts critical of the operations say the US strikes constitute illegal and extrajudicial killings, as the military cannot deliberately target civilians who do not pose an imminent threat of violence, even if they are suspected of involvement in criminal activity.
The White House has declared that the deaths are legal, arguing that Trump “determined” that the US is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels and that drug trafficking boat crews are “fighters”.
Watch the moment of the attack (14s):
On May 4, at the direction of commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking…
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom)
