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Washington — Individuals on board two suspected drug trafficking boats jumped into the water after a first strike on another boat on Tuesday, the US military said.
The United States Southern Command announced Wednesday that three “drug trafficking vessels traveling in convoy” had been struck in “international waters” a day earlier. Three people were killed when the first boat was hit, according to Southern Command.
“The remaining narcoterrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before subsequent fighting sank their respective vessels,” Southern Command said, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard had been notified of the search and rescue efforts.
In a separate statement, the Coast Guard said it was informed Tuesday of “marines in distress in the Pacific Ocean.”
“The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search and rescue operations with vessels in the area, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is en route to provide further search coverage with the possibility of dropping a life raft and supplies,” the release said.
Up to eight people abandoned the two remaining ships, three U.S. officials told CBS News. One of the officials said the strikes were carried out in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
A 46 second video strikes do not appear to show survivors in the water.
The American army also said it carried out strikes on two ships on Wednesday, killing five people, the Southern Command said later in the day, bringing the estimated death toll in the months-long military campaign against suspected drug traffickers to at least 115.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting known drug trafficking routes and engaged in drug trafficking. A total of five narcoterrorists were killed during these actions – three in the first vessel and two in the second,” Southern Command said.
The Trump Administration’s Handling of Survivors Has Arrived under scrutinywith some critics accusing him of committing potential war crimes after a follow-up strike on September 2 killed two survivors. Two men who survived an Oct. 16 strike in the Caribbean Sea have been arrested by the U.S. Navy and returned to their home countries, raising questions about the danger the Trump administration drug traffickers allege poses for the Oct. 27 U.S. strikes in the Pacific that left one survivor, who has since been presumed dead.
Members of Congress – mostly Democrats – sought to curb boat strikeswhich come as the Trump administration steps up pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The administration has accused Maduro of drug trafficking and collaboration with gangs designated by the United States as terrorist organizations, which Maduro denies.
Lawmakers have sounded the alarm that the strikes, which were not authorized by Congress, could lead to war with Venezuela and have questioned their legality.
President Trump, who has repeatedly threatened ground strikes against Venezuela, said The United States last week “destroyed” a “major facility” linked to alleged drug trafficking operations, but its administration has provided few details about it.
“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they were loading the boats with drugs,” Mr. Trump told reporters Monday in Florida.
Many Republicans defended the strikes, particularly after the administration acknowledged that two survivors of the Sept. 2 boat attack were killed in another strike.
Critics and defenders of the Sept. 2 follow-up strike have called for the video to be made public, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon has no intention of doing so.
