US Strike Kills 2 on Pacific Drug Boat as Southern Spear Death Toll Reaches 195

9 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 28

Two men were killed Wednesday when the US military struck what it said was a drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, the second fatal attack in two days.
Southern Command said the vessel was on a known smuggling route and called the dead men “narco-terrorists,” releasing video that showed an explosion and burning wreckage.
The strike pushed the death toll in Operation Southern Spear to at least 195 since September, according to an AFP tally, after dozens of similar attacks in recent months.
Tuesday’s attack left two survivors stranded in the water, with the Coast Guard alerted for a rescue mission that had not been detailed publicly.
Rights groups and legal experts say the campaign may amount to extrajudicial killings because Washington has not provided definitive evidence the targeted boats posed an immediate threat to the US.

With fentanyl primarily trafficked over land, how do Pacific strikes combat the US drug crisis?

Has the new military-first strategy against cartels fractured crucial international anti-drug alliances?

Without public evidence, what legally separates these anti-drug strikes from extrajudicial killings?