On May 29, 2026, the United States military carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel allegedly operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations,” reportedly killing three men described as “narco-terrorists” in the Eastern Pacific.
The strike was announced by U.S. Southern Command in a press release on May 29th. The statement detailed that “at the direction of SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan” 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.” In a video included in the post, a stationary boat can be seen until it erupts into flames and smoke.
The LA Times reported in an article published in July 2026 that 28-year-old Jesús Rangel Romero and two other men from Puerto San Carlos set out from Guatemala, heading toward Colombia on May 26th but their families lost contact with them after that. 27-year old Marbella Para Amador, wife of Rangel Romero, was not part of trafficking operations but as the local economy was suffering and he was under pressure to provide for his one-year-old daughter, he accepted a smuggling job. The smuggles who hired Rangel Romero told his wife that he had been killed but it is unclear in which incident as the U.S. declared strikes on boats in the eastern Pacific on May 26 (USMAR260526a), May 27 (USMAR260527a), May 29 and May 30 (USMAR260530a). Therefore, information about these victims have been included in all four incidents (except in the victim's list) and will be updated should more information become available.
There were no additional details found among local sources about the victims.
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.