Washington — The death toll from the Trump administration’s months-long series Raids on suspected drug smuggling boats In the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean it has risen to at least 199 people after no survivors were found from the recent attacks.
The total includes at least 22 people who survived an initial strike and were then struck again or died at sea during the campaign that began last September. This includes three people He survived two separate strikes This month, according to the US Army.
US Southern Command says it has notified the US Coast Guard of any survivors of such attacks, but these reports appear to have been largely relayed to countries closer to the actual strike site.
When asked about any recent search and rescue efforts, the Mexican Navy said it had received an alert from the U.S. Coast Guard about the strikes this month, but had not done so. Mention the survivors. The US Coast Guard referred requests for more information to Mexican authorities.
The strikes were controversial, with the Trump administration announcing that the United States had begun The war with drug cartels in Latin America. They sparked more backlash late last year after it was revealed that two people survived the first boat attack just last September. To be targeted again in a later raid And he was killed. Legal experts said That would violate the laws governing armed conflicts.
The Pentagon’s oversight body said this month that it planned to look into whether the US military had pursued any attack Specific targeting framework When executing her strikes. However, the inspector general’s office said the assessment focused specifically on what is known as the six-stage joint targeting cycle and not on the legality of the strikes.
So far, only three people are known to have survived the raids and been rescued. Two were rescued from a semi-submersible ship accused of carrying drugs in October They later returned to their countries of origin Ecuador and Colombia.
In March, the US Coast Guard said it had recovered a survivor from a raid that killed two other people and transferred the survivor to authorities in Costa Rica.
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Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.