The United States has intensified its military campaign against alleged maritime drug smugglers, expanding strikes into the eastern Pacific ocean for the first time and bringing the total death toll to at least 43 people since the operations began in September.

The latest strike, which marks the tenth in the ongoing campaign, targeted a vessel in the Caribbean sea on Friday, October 24. In a nighttime operation, a US strike killed six men who were reportedly members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The attack was confirmed by defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

This comes on the heels of the campaign's recent expansion. On October 22 and 23, the US military conducted its first known strikes in the eastern Pacific ocean, hitting two separate vessels and killing a total of five people. These operations signal a significant widening of the geographic scope of the controversial policy.

Launched in early September under the administration of President Donald Trump, the military campaign aims to disrupt narcotics smuggling by sea. The Trump administration, which has designated certain drug cartels as terrorist organizations, justifies the strikes as a necessary action to protect the American people from the flow of illegal drugs. President Trump has stated the operations are in defense of the nation, citing high numbers of drug-related deaths in the US.

According to US officials, vessels are targeted in international waters based on intelligence identifying them as being involved in narcotics smuggling along known trafficking routes.

However, the aggressive and lethal approach has drawn sharp condemnation from Latin American governments and human rights organizations.

President Gustavo Petro of Colombia called the US actions violations of international law and "extrajudicial killings." His concerns were amplified by reports that a Colombian fisherman was among those killed in an earlier strike. Similarly, Venezuelan officials, including vice president Delcy Rodríguez, have labeled the strikes as a pretext for aggression and have called for international scrutiny.

Human rights groups have echoed these concerns. Human Rights Watch described the strikes as "unlawful extrajudicial killings," criticizing the US for failing to provide sufficient public evidence linking the targeted individuals and vessels to criminal activity.

As the bombing campaign quickens, with 10 strikes reported since early September, the cumulative death toll and the expansion into a new oceanic theater suggest the administration remains committed to its hardline strategy despite the growing international and legal backlash.