U.S. Military Kills 156 in Drug Cartel Boat Operations

From September 2025 through May 2026, the U.S. military attacked 45 small boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing or presuming dead 156 people. These boats were linked to drug cartels that the government classified as terrorist organizations. No court has examined whether the military had legal grounds for these lethal operations—the deadliest such campaign in the region in years.