A timeline of US strikes on boats that have killed at least 227

Pete Hegseth/X/Donald Trump/Truth Social

The US military has killed at least 227 people in strikes that have destroyed 72 vessels as part of a campaign that Washington says is aimed at curtailing the flow of drugs into the United States, according to official announcements and CNN’s analysis of search and rescue efforts.

There have been at least 26 survivors of those strikes according to the US military, at least three of whom were briefly held by US forces before being returned to their home countries. Some 23 are presumed dead after searches did not locate them in the water.

The most recent strike on September 3 destroyed an alleged “refueling” vessel supporting drug trafficking operations in the eastern Pacific with no known fatalities — the third such strike against an alleged refueling boat. US Southern Command said it removed the crew members before sinking those boats and will transfer them to Ecuador.

The US Coast Guard launched searches for survivors after several of the strikes, while announcing that other countries’ naval authorities had been contacted after other attacks.

The Trump administration has told Congress that the US is now in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels beginning with its first strike on September 2, 2025, labeling those killed “unlawful combatants” and claiming the ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding .

Some members of Congress as well as human rights groups have questioned that finding and argued that potential drug traffickers should face prosecution, as had been the policy of interdiction carried out by the US before President Donald Trump took office.

The Trump administration has also not provided public evidence of the presence of narcotics on the boats struck, nor their affiliation with drug cartels.

Military officials have said that no US service members have been harmed in the strikes.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

Pete Hegseth/X/唐纳德·特朗普/Truth Social

据官方公告和 CNN 对搜救工作的分析，美国军方在打击行动中至少造成 227 人死亡，72 艘船只被摧毁，这是华盛顿方面所称旨在遏制毒品流入美国的行动的一部分。

据美国军方称，至少有26人在袭击中幸存，其中至少3人曾被美军短暂扣留，之后被遣返回国。另有23人被推定死亡，因为搜救人员在水中未能找到他们的踪迹。

9月3日，美军对一艘据称在东太平洋为贩毒活动提供“加油”服务的船只发动了袭击，所幸未造成人员伤亡——这是美军第三次对疑似加油船发动此类袭击。美国​​南方司令部表示，在击沉这些船只之前，他们已将船员转移至厄瓜多尔。

在多次袭击发生后，美国海岸警卫队展开了对幸存者的搜寻行动，同时宣布在其他袭击事件发生后，已与其他国家海军当局取得联系。

特朗普政府告诉国会，美国现在正与贩毒集团进行“武装冲突”，并将于 2025 年 9 月 2 日开始首次打击，将死者称为“非法战斗人员”，并声称由于司法部的一项机密调查结果，美国有权在未经司法审查的情况下进行致命打击。

一些国会议员和人权组织对这一调查结果提出质疑，并认为潜在的毒品贩运者应该受到起诉，就像唐纳德·特朗普总统上任之前美国实施的拦截政策一样。

特朗普政府也没有提供公开证据证明被击沉的船只上存在毒品，也没有提供证据证明这些船只与贩毒集团有关联。

军方官员表示，空袭中没有美军人员受伤。

本文已更新，添加了更多报道内容。