On October 27, 2025, the United States military carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels allegedly affiliated with “a Designated Terrorist Organization,” reportedly killing 14 men described as “narco-terrorists” in international waters in the Eastern Pacific.

The strikes were announced in a statement published by @SecWar Pete Hegseth on Twitter/X on October 28th stating that the strikes on the vessels “yesterday” were “known by our intelligence apparatus, transiting along known narco-trafficking routes, and carrying narcotics”.

Hegseth’s statement also mentioned that there had been one survivor from one of the strikes (it is unknown which) and in response “USSOUTHCOM immediately initiated Search and Rescue (SAR) standard protocols; Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue.” The post included a video showing two boats, with visible movement onboard and which appeared to be stationary, being blown up from multiple video angles zoomed in and out. The video then shows a third boat, moving through the water until it erupts into flames, and a fourth boat, moving through the water and filled with unknown cargo, completely engulfed in flames.

The New York Times detailed that according to the Pentagon, U.S. military officials had “observed one narcoterrorist in the water clinging to some wreckage” and then alerted a Mexican military boat nearby of the survivor. The Mexican Navy @SEMAR_mx announced that their forces had started the search for the “alleged castaway” at 6:30 a.m. on October 28th, the day after the strikes, 456 nautical miles from Acapulco, the nearest point in Mexico. The Mexican Navy then conducted a standard 96-hour search and stopped actively searching the morning of November 1st, announcing this on Twitter/X @SEMAR_mx.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, as quoted by the New York Times, the strikes had occurred the afternoon of the 27th but did not mention when they contacted the Mexican Navy. The Coast Guard also mentioned that the Mexican Navy had notified them the afternoon of the 28th that they had not found any survivors. A Pentagon statement also quoted by the New York Times stated that the U.S. military had acted  “in accordance with international protocols for a distressed person in the water” and “relayed the precise location and status of the person in the water” to the Mexican military.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced during her morning press conference on October 29th, as quoted by Latin Times, that the Mexican Navy had been unable to rescue the survivor and that the Mexican government did not know the nationality of those killed nor the survivor. She further stated that the Mexican Navy had participated in the search for humanitarian reasons and that they were conducting search and rescue operations more than 400 miles southwest of the city of Acapulco. Many Spanish-language media and social media outlets incorrectly reported that the Mexican Navy had rescued the survivor based on an incorrect interpretation of what the Mexican President had said in the press conference. However, official statements from the Mexican Navy assert that the survivor was not rescued.

There has been no further information found about the supposed survivor. In response to questions from The Intercept, Col. Emanuel Ortiz, Southern Command’s chief of public affairs, clarified that the survivors of the boat strikes which had occurred up until January 8th 2026, including this incident, were counted as “narco-terrorists deaths” following the strikes. Therefore, a maximum range of 15 deaths has been recorded to reflect this.

Methodological note about classification of those killed in this incident

In documenting this incident, Airwars is following the guidance outlined by independent International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law experts, whereby those on the vessels are understood to be civilians, given that the legal framework in which the strikes are being conducted remains in question.

Airwars has therefore included a civilian casualty count of 14-15 deaths.