The United States has significantly escalated its counter-narcotics efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean, deploying substantial air and naval assets, as well as troops, to combat drug trafficking in the region. According to CBS, US forces recently targeted another vessel suspected of carrying drugs, this time in the Pacific Ocean. Two US officials reported that two or three individuals aboard the vessel were likely killed in the strike. If confirmed, this would mark the eighth such operation since September 2, and the first in the Caribbean. The BBC has reached out to the White House, Pentagon, and State Department for comments. A leaked memo to US lawmakers revealed that the Trump administration has classified its actions as part of a ‘non-international armed conflict’ against drug-trafficking organizations, several of which have been designated as terrorist groups by the US government. Since the operations began, at least 34 people have been killed, including in a recent strike on a semi-submersible submarine in the Caribbean. Two survivors from that incident were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador, with Ecuador releasing one individual due to lack of evidence. The other remains hospitalized. President Donald Trump has defended the strikes as essential measures against drug trafficking, while also escalating tensions with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, whom he accused of promoting drug production. Trump announced the cessation of US subsidies to Colombia, a long-standing ally. The Pacific coastlines of Colombia and Ecuador are key transit points for cocaine bound for the US, with the Caribbean also seeing a rise in drug trafficking activity. Despite the deployment of 10,000 US troops and numerous military assets to the region, details about the identities of those killed and their alleged affiliations remain scarce.