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WASHINGTON — <\/span>The U.S. military said Sunday that it blew up two boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of five people and leaving one survivor, as the Trump administration pursues its campaign<\/a> against alleged traffickers in Latin America while preparing a naval blockade<\/a> of Iranian ports. <\/p>\n The attacks on Saturday bring the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to at least 168 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls \u201cnarcoterrorists\u201d in early September. <\/p>\n As with most of the military\u2019s statements on the dozens of strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. Videos posted on X showed small boats moving across the water before they each were engulfed in a bright explosion. <\/p>\n U.S. Southern Command stated on X that it notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the search-and-rescue system for the survivor. The Coast Guard confirmed it was coordinating the search and said updates would be provided when available. <\/p>\n President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in \u201carmed conflict\u201d with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks<\/a> as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing \u201cnarcoterrorists.\u201d <\/p>\n Critics have questioned the overall legality<\/a> of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the U.S. over land from Mexico<\/a>, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.<\/p>\n The boat strikes have continued in Latin America even as the U.S. military has focused on operations in the Middle East, where the U.S. was engaged in a war with Iran for several weeks. <\/p>\n Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, after U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks<\/a> in Pakistan ended without an agreement. Trump wants to weaken Iran\u2019s key leverage in the war<\/a> after demanding that it reopen the crucial waterway through which 20% of global oil normally passes. U.S. Central Command said the blockade would involve Iranian ports. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n