US STRIKE ON CARIBBEAN BOAT KILLS FOUR, TOLL NOW 231

The US military killed four people on Saturday when it struck a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea, according to US Southern Command. The strike is the latest in a campaign the Trump administration says targets "narcoterrorists" along established smuggling routes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. It brings the death toll from such strikes to at least 231 people across 69 operations since the campaign began nearly a year ago, officials said. Footage posted on X showed what appeared to be a moving boat followed by a flash. The military did not release evidence confirming the vessel was carrying drugs.

President Donald Trump has said the US is in an "armed conflict" with Latin American cartels and has defended the strikes as necessary to reduce drug trafficking and overdose deaths in the US. His administration has not provided detailed evidence that those killed in the strikes were smugglers, and critics have questioned the strikes' legality and effectiveness. Some critics have noted that fentanyl linked to most US overdose deaths is typically transported over land from Mexico, where it is produced using chemicals imported from China and India.

The administration is seeking agreements with regional governments to extend military action onto land. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said last month in Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to joint US operations against criminal networks on their territory, though Guatemala disputed that any such agreement was made. Ecuador began conducting joint missions with the US in March, according to the report. No further operations have been confirmed since Saturday's strike.