US carries out first boat strike in the Pacific since Maduro raid, killing two

The U.S. military on Friday carried out a lethal strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command announced.

The attack marked the first known U.S. strike in the region since the military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.

The Friday strike killed two people and left one survivor, the military said.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the military wrote on X.

The military directed the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue protocols for the survivor.

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Video of the strike shows aerial footage of a low motorboat exploding with what appears to be a person standing on its bow.

Friday’s attack brings the estimated death toll of the Trump administration’s air strike campaign in the region to 125 people.

Earlier this week, the military seized what it said was a sanctioned, Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Caribbean, its seventh such operation since the campaign began last fall.

The operation has attracted controversy throughout, with critics accusing the U.S. of violating international law and using military force against non-combatants. The administration also faced scrutiny for a September “double-tap” strike in which an initial survivor was killed.

The Trump administration defends the strikes and insists the U.S. is in a legally sanctioned armed conflict with criminal groups it alleges are narco-terrorists.

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Both houses of Congress have attempted to check President Trump’s Venezuela campaign, after the Maduro raid was conducted without prior legislative approval. A Senate resolution to block further strikes within Venezuela failed earlier this month, and a tied House vote this week failed to advance a similar war powers resolution.

In addition to air strikes and boat seizures, the military deployed a “secret sonic” weapon during the special forces raid that captured Maduro, President Trump said this week.

The Trump administration also said this week it is facilitating talks with oil companies to revitalize Venezuela’s degraded oil infrastructure.

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President Trump accused the country of stealing U.S. oil assets as part of the country’s long-term nationalization process, which began in the 1970s.

He has said that after the Maduro capture, the U.S. will indefinitely control Venezuelan oil sales.