US confirms 126 deaths linked to suspected drug ship attack

this death toll Link to trump card administrative department strike suspicious drugs sell The U.S. military confirmed on Monday that the ship was carrying 126 people, including those presumed missing at sea.

The figure includes 116 people killed in at least 36 attacks since early September. Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific OceanAccording to U.S. Southern Command. Ten more people are believed to be dead as searchers failed to find them after the attack.

Eight of the deaths occurred on December 30, when eight people jumped from a ship accused of drug trafficking during a U.S. attack. Although the military said the U.S. Coast Guard was searching for survivors at the time of the attack, the number had not previously been released. The remaining two people speculated that the dead were on the ship that was attacked on October 27 and last Friday.

Trump said the United States is in an “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and called the attacks a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. Yet his government has provided little evidence to support its claims of killing “narco-terrorists.”

Critics question the overall legality of these attacks and their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is often trafficked overland from Mexico into the United States, where it is produced using chemicals imported from China and India.

The operation also drew strong criticism after the military killed survivors of the first boat attack with follow-up strikes. The Trump administration and many Republican lawmakers say it is legal and necessary, while Democratic lawmakers and legal experts say the killings are murder, if not war crimes.

The attack was one of the largest build-ups of U.S. military power in Latin America in generations and a pressure campaign that culminated in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to the United States to face drug trafficking charges following a Jan. 3 U.S. raid.

A ship strike has since occurred, although the United States has focused more on seizing tankers linked to the incident. Venezuela as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to control the South American country’s oil.

Congressional Republicans defeated a Democratic-led effort to curb Trump’s ability to launch further attacks in Venezuela.