On January 23, 2026, the United States military carried out a kinetic strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly affiliated with “Designated Terrorist Organizations,” reportedly killing two people described as “narco-terrorists”. One other person described as a “narco-terrorist” survived the strike but was not rescued during U.S. Coast Guard searches.
The strike was announced by SOUTHCOM on Twitter/X on January 23rd. The statement detailed that the strike was on a vessel which intelligence confirmed allegedly “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” SOUTHCOM said that it “immediately” notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue.
In a video included in the post from @Southcom, a boat with at least one person visibly standing on the bow can be seen moving through the water until an explosion occurs, with the final view showing the boat smoking and floating in the water from a distance.
The @USCGSouthwest posted on Twitter/X later on January 23rd that it was conducting search and rescue operations for “a person in distress in the Pacific Ocean” after notification from the @DeptofWar Southern Command. The Coast Guard announced on January 26th that it had suspended search and rescue on January 25th, stating that it had “coordinated more than 67 hours of search efforts, covering 1,055 nautical miles with no signs of survivors or debris.” The amount of time was later corrected by the US Coast Guard to a 56 hour period. The survivor, now presumed to be dead, has been included in the death toll in this incident.
There has been no further information found about the supposed survivor.
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 three deaths.