U.S. Launches First Anti-Drug Strike in Pacific Side of South America, Its Eighth Attack During Pressure Campaign

One of the Venezuelan vessels previously attacked by the U.S. Navy (Credit: Video Capture)

The United States carried out another strike against an alleged drug-trafficking vessel Tuesday night — this time on the Pacific side of South America — marking the first such attack outside the Caribbean, to two U.S. officials told CBS News.

The strike, the eighth known attack since September 2, killed at least two people aboard the vessel, the officials said. Previous U.S. operations under the Trump administration's new counter-narcotics campaign targeted boats in the Caribbean, where at least 34 people have been killed in similar strikes.