SIX people were killed in a US attack on a drug smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific on Sunday.
While the US military did not provide evidence that the small craft was carrying drugs, it did post a video on X of the vessel being blown up.
The attack follows two incidents earlier this year in which French maritime patrols intercepted large drug-carrying ships and destroyed their cargo. There has also been increased narco-sub activity in the northern and southern areas of the Pacific Ocean.
Patterns suggest that the Pacific is increasingly being used as a route for the transhipment of narcotics from the West Coast of the Americas to Australia’s eastern seaboard.
The low presence of maritime patrols and the vastness of the ocean provide perfect conditions for smugglers.
Sunday’s attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels in early September.
The US military gave no specific details of the destination of the suspected narco-boat or the location of its destruction.
But between the last quarter of 2025 and early 2026, the US Navy patrols have hit suspected drug traffickers on the sea near Ecuador and Venezuela.
Police in Fiji have established that there are links between the Ecuadorian drug cartels and drugs found in the islands.
Ecuador and the United States conducted military operations this past week against organized crime groups in the South American country.