US strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat kills two in Pacific

The US military said it killed two alleged drug traffickers in a strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific Friday, while the Coast Guard was searching for a third person who survived. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command said in a post on X.

But it has provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.