U.S. strikes another vessel and kills 3 men it says were trafficking drugs in the Eastern Pacific

The Pentagon is seen from an airplane, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

WASHINGTON — U.S. military forces struck a vessel Wednesday in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men the Pentagon says were trafficking drugs.

No U.S. personnel were harmed, the U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post.

Several such strikes have been announced in recent days as the Trump administration continues its aggressive anti-cartel actions in international waters. At least 178 people have been killed in the strikes since the effort began in early September, months before the U.S. raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

The Southern Command described the attack Wednesday as a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.” It said the vessel was transiting along ”known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific."

The announcement did not name the organization or the three men killed in the strike or offer a more precise location. Nor did it provide evidence of the men’s ties to drug trafficking.

The Associated Press