The U.S. military has reported that the number of people killed in a series of strikes on vessels it alleges were involved in drug trafficking has reached 126, according to a statement from U.S. Southern Command. This total includes both confirmed deaths and individuals presumed lost at sea after attacks on suspected narcotics-transporting boats.
Southern Command said that at least 36 separate strikes have been carried out since early September in areas of the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Of those killed, 116 died at the time of the attacks, while another ten are believed to have perished after going missing following a strike.
In one incident at the end of December, several people reportedly jumped from vessels before U.S. forces struck, and those who were not found in search efforts are now counted among the presumed dead.
U.S. political leadership has described the operations as part of an “armed conflict” with drug trafficking organizations in the region, a characterization that has drawn scrutiny. The military has cited efforts to disrupt narcotics flows to the United States as justification for the campaign.
These strikes form part of a broader escalation of U.S. military activity in the region that preceded other actions, including a military operation in early January that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on federal drug-trafficking charges. Since then, the focus of operations has also included efforts to seize oil tankers tied to Venezuela.
The campaign has been contentious domestically and internationally, with critics questioning the legal basis and humanitarian impact of the strikes, while some U.S. lawmakers have defended the actions as necessary measures in combating drug smuggling.