The United States Armed Forces on Monday reported an attack on a vessel allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, in which two people died, marking the first reported incident of this kind in more than two months. U.S. Southern Command stated in a post on X that the “Joint Task Force of the western hemisphere conducted a lethal kinetic strike against a low-profile vessel operating along established drug-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific.”

Since June 21, the administration of Donald Trump had suspended—or at least had not carried out—sinkings of vessels as part of its operations in the Caribbean and the Pacific within the framework of its counter-narcotics efforts. Prior to the attack the previous day, U.S. forces had destroyed at least 67 vessels and killed approximately 220 people under the umbrella of the ‘Operation Southern Spear’ campaign since September 2025, amid widespread scrutiny from members of Congress and human rights groups.

Critics maintain that no evidence has been presented regarding the allegedly illegal actions and that the deaths would qualify as extrajudicial killings. In early August, following a careful review of classified information he had seen, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine communicated to the White House that it is likely the attacks have illegally killed “individuals not involved in drug trafficking.” CNN reported that the Virginia legislator, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to “examine the circumstances of these attacks” and called for an end to an “illegal, costly, and ineffective” operation.