The US military said it killed five people in a strike Tuesday on a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, The Guardian and Stars and Stripes report.

"Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal, kinetic strike on a go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific," US Southern Command wrote on X. It said intelligence showed the boat was carrying illegal drugs. It also posted a video of the strike.

The strike is one of more than 70 such attacks since President Trump returned to office. Stars and Stripes puts the death toll at at least 230. The Guardian, citing media tallies, says more than 240 people have been killed.

Trump has said the US is in an armed conflict with Latin American drug cartels. He says the strikes are needed to stop drugs from reaching the US.

The Guardian reports the administration has not provided firm evidence that the people and boats were involved in drug trafficking. Legal experts and rights groups say the strikes could amount to killings without trial, because they appear to target people who pose no immediate threat to the US.

Not every encounter has been deadly. Stars and Stripes notes that in some cases the military has removed crews before sinking their boats. On October 23, Southern Command said the Coast Guard stopped a suspected boat and detained the people aboard.

What we know: Southern Command says five people died in a strike on a suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific.
What we don't: Who was on the boat, and what evidence links it to drug trafficking.