The US military attacked a ship accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, causing the death of two men, within the framework of the campaign that the Trump administration has been carrying out for months against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America.

This latest attack brings to at least 207 the number of people killed in attacks on boats by the US military since the government began targeting what it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

As in most military statements about attacks in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, the US Southern Command claimed to have attacked suspected drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.

The military did not present evidence that the boat was transporting drugs. A video posted on X showed a boat speeding before catching fire.

Donald Trump has declared that the United States is in “armed conflict” with Latin American cartels and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stop the flow of drugs into the United States and the fatal overdoses that claim American lives.

However, his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of boat attacks, as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl responsible for many fatal overdoses is often trafficked into the United States overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

The attacks have come under intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military law experts.