US forces have struck another vessel alleged to be carrying drugs, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, CBS has reported.
According to two US officials cited in the report, two or three people on board are believed to have been killed.
If confirmed, the strike marks the eighth US strike against suspected drug boats since 2 September – but the first in the Caribbean.
The BBC has contacted the White House, Pentagon and State Department for comment.
In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration said it determined it was involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organisations.
At least 34 people have been killed in the American strikes on alleged drug boats, including a recent strike on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean.
Two men survived a strike last week, and were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
Ecuador’s government later released him – identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño – saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing. The other man, from Colombia, reportedly remains hospitalised.
US President Donald Trump and administration officials have repeatedly justified the strikes as counter-narcotics measures necessary to fight drug-trafficking organisations, several of which have been designated as terrorist organisations by the US.
The location of the most recent strike and the origin of the vessel remain unclear.
News of the strike, however, comes amid rising tensions between the Trump administration and the Colombian government of President Gustavo Petro.
On Sunday, Trump denounced Petro as an “illegal drug leader” who is “strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia.”
Trump added that the US will no longer offer subsidies to Colombia, which has historically been one of its closest allies in Latin America.
Both Colombia and nearby Ecuador have significant Pacific coastlines that experts have said are used to funnel drugs north towards the US through Central America and Mexico.
US estimates from the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, indicate that the vast majority of cocaine bound for US cities passes through the Pacific.
Drug seizures in the Caribbean – where the bulk of confirmed US strikes have so far taken place – account for a relatively small percentage of the total, although US officials have warned it is rising.
To date, US officials have offered few details on the identities of those killed in the strikes or what drug trafficking organisations they allegedly belong to.
Around 10,000 US troops, as well as dozens of military aircraft and ships, have been deployed to the Caribbean as part of the operation.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: BBC
