LA CRUZ DE HUANACAXTLE — U.S. missile strikes on suspected drug boats killed eight fishermen from Mexico’s Nayarit state on Feb. 16. The U.S. military released videos showing two missile strikes that it said killed eight “narco-terrorists” in the Pacific.

Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations late on Feb. 16. Gen. Francis L. Donovan is the SOUTHCOM commander. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known routes.

Two boats carrying eight fishermen set out from Mexico’s Pacific coast before dawn in mid-February. The men set out early Feb. 16 from Punta Pérula. The eight fishermen never returned.

Family members identified the dead as Edgar Valerio Ramos, Pedro Torres Falcón, Luis Torres Jiménez, Carlos Torres Zamora, José Reyes García, Diego Ocampo González, Abel Ramos Jiménez and Braulio Cruz Joya. A Mass for the men was held at sea a few days after the strikes. A memorial service was held at sea for fishermen from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle.

Videos of the ceremony show dozens of boats carrying mourners dressed in black. Mourners tossed wreaths onto the waves during the ceremony. Some mourners cracked open cans of beer in a salute to the missing mariners. Some mourners sang narco-corridos during the service. Narco-corridos are songs that chronicle the lives and sometimes deaths of drug traffickers.

Drug traffickers who had hired the men to help smuggle cocaine said the boats had been bombed by the U.S. military. The Trump administration’s strikes against alleged drug boats have killed a total of 221 people since September. The U.S. has carried out 64 strikes.

The U.S. has killed at least 13 Mexicans in strikes on fishing boats. At least five additional Mexicans have died in U.S. boat strikes in other parts of Latin America.

The U.S. stated the strikes occurred in international waters in the Pacific Ocean or Caribbean Sea. The U.S. has not revealed the exact location of any of the 64 strikes it has carried out. The U.S. has not shared details about who was targeted or why in the strikes.

Mexican authorities say they have been kept in the dark about the specifics of the strikes. Moisés López Pedroza is a spokesman for Mexico’s navy. Moisés López Pedroza said no attacks had occurred within Mexico’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from Mexico’s coastline. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry responded: “We have no information.”

Claudia Sheinbaum is the President of Mexico. President Claudia Sheinbaum stated: “The Mexican people will never accept violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea or air.” In coastal towns across Mexico, mariners have set out to sea and then vanished. The dates of the mariners' disappearances correspond closely with boat strikes reported by the U.S.

Marbella Para Amador is 27 years old. Para Amador’s hometown is Puerto San Carlos in Baja California Sur state. Jesús Rangel Romero was 28 years old.

Jesús Rangel Romero was the husband of Para Amador. The local sardine cannery in San Carlos closed. Para Amador said her husband agreed to take a smuggling job after the town’s economy cratered with the closure of the local sardine cannery. Amador said her husband accepted the smuggling job out of desperation to provide for the couple’s 1-year-old daughter. Para he said her husband was not a part of the drug trade. Para he said generations of men from San Carlos have worked for traffickers.

Father Rigoberto Cruz is a local Catholic priest in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Father Cruz said of the dead: “They knew the risks.”

The Trump administration labels targets “narco-terrorists.” Legal experts and human rights advocates warn the airstrikes amount to extrajudicial killings. Human rights advocates and lawmakers call the offensives both ineffective and illegal.