Overview
- Since September 2025, U.S. forces have conducted 45 strikes that destroyed 47 suspected smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing 157 people.
- Pentagon data presented to lawmakers cites a roughly 20% drop in suspected drug-boat movements in the Caribbean and 25% in the Eastern Pacific.
- Acting assistant secretary Joseph Humire called the campaign "just the beginning" and declined to rule out land operations or potential unilateral action.
- Officials say the operations draw on a growing regional coalition now counted at 18 members, with recent joint actions carried out alongside Ecuadorian forces.
- Legal scholars and rights bodies, including the IACHR, are seeking scrutiny of the strikes as the Pentagon shares videos but offers few details about those killed or drugs seized.