US military launches strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific, kills 2 ‘narco-terrorists’; watch video here

The US military said on Monday (February 9, 2026) it killed two “narco-terrorists” in its latest strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific. According to news agency AFP, the lethal attack brings the total killed to at least 130 in 38 such strikes.

President Donald Trump's administration began targeting alleged smuggling boats in early September, insisting it is effectively at war with alleged "narco-terrorists" operating out of Venezuela.

"Two narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the strike," US Southern Command said in a statement on X. It further stated that the US Coast Guard was notified to "activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor."


“On Feb. 9, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists 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,” the U.S. Southern Command said in its X post.




Administration officials have provided no definitive evidence that the vessels are involved in drug trafficking, according to AFP. This has prompted a heated debate about the legality of the operations that have expanded from the Caribbean to the Pacific.

It also marks the third reported US strike on an alleged drug boat in the region since the January 2026 capture by US special forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who had said the American campaign of strikes was aimed at pushing regime change in the South American country.

The leftist leader is incarcerated in the United States, where he has pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges. In January 2026, the relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in one of the strikes sued the US government for wrongful death in an October 14 strike.