US Southern Command carried out a lethal strike on a boat in the Caribbean on 25 August, killing four people it described as "narco-terrorists," part of an ongoing campaign against suspected drug-trafficking vessels that has now claimed at least 227 lives across 68 strikes over roughly the past year. The action, ordered under Gen. Francis L. Donovan's Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, follows a strike on Monday that killed two people in the Eastern Pacific, marking a return to frequent operations after more than two months of relative calm. The Trump administration frames the campaign as a necessary military response to curb drug trafficking into the United States, having declared the country in "armed conflict" with cartels across Latin America.

SOUTHCOM said the vessel struck on Monday was a "go-fast" boat operating along known trafficking routes, and that intelligence confirmed its involvement in narcotics smuggling. The administration is also seeking to extend operations onto land, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth claiming Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow joint US military action against criminal groups on their territory, though Guatemala has denied any such agreement; Ecuador began similar joint missions with the US in March.