2 Dead, 1 Survivor in US Strike on Suspected Narco Boat
U.S. forces struck a suspected narco boat Monday in the Eastern Pacific, killing two people and leaving one survivor.
The vessel was traveling along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was allegedly conducting narco-trafficking operations, U.S. Southern Command said Monday in a post shared to social media platform X.
Two people were killed and one survived the strike.
“Following the engagement, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor,” reads the X post.
The strike brings the total number of people killed in U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats to 121. The strike was the second under the leadership of U.S. Southern Commander commander Gen. Francis Donovan.
Meanwhile the Defense Department announced Monday that U.S. forces boarded MT Aquila II on Sunday in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s area of responsibility. U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarded the Panamanian-flagged tanker because the ship allegedly violated the quarantine on tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
Panama and the U.S. have an agreement in which Panama often allows the U.S. to board ships under Panamanian flags, USNI News previously reported.
“The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean,” reads a statement shared Monday to X.
The U.S. has seized seven tankers since Dec. 10 as part of the quarantine.
