Three lifeless in U.S. strike on boat in Caribbean

A U.S. strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat within the Caribbean Sea killed three folks on Monday (February 23, 2026), the U.S. navy mentioned.

The USA started concentrating on alleged smuggling boats in early September, and the newest strike brings the dying toll from the marketing campaign to not less than 150.

U.S. Southern Command, which is chargeable for Washington’s forces within the area, mentioned the boat was “transiting alongside recognized narco-trafficking routes within the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”

Southern Command’s submit on X included a video of a stationary boat being destroyed in an explosion.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration insists it’s successfully at struggle with what it calls “narco-terrorists” working in Latin America.

However it has offered no definitive proof that the vessels it targets are concerned in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate in regards to the legality of the operations.

Worldwide regulation consultants and rights teams say the strikes possible quantity to extrajudicial killings as they’ve apparently focused civilians who don’t pose a direct risk to america.

Washington has deployed a big naval power within the Caribbean, the place its forces have in latest months struck alleged drug-smuggling boats, seized oil tankers and carried out a shocking raid on the Venezuelan capital to seize leftist chief Nicolas Maduro.