The United States military has so far killed 157 members or affiliates of drug organizations in 45 strikes against drug trafficking vessels in the Western Hemisphere, a senior US defense official said on Tuesday.
Since September 2025, the United States military has carried out a series of strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific against drug vessels.
The lethal strikes are part of a broader campaign aimed at cutting off the supply of illegal drugs. In a written statement to lawmakers, Joseph Humire, a senior Pentagon official responsible for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, said 47 narco-trafficking vessels had been destroyed in the strikes so far.
Humire said the strikes had a "significant and profound" impact, including a 20 per cent reduction in the movement of drug vessels in the Caribbean and a 25 per cent reduction in the Eastern Pacific.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Sharon Singleton)