Officials say intercepted communications are the core of the intelligence collected on the boats.

Colombia has asked the U.S. to stop attacking boats that the U.S. claims are trafficking drugs in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

The U.S. has been carrying out intermittent strikes on vessels alleged to be carrying drug smugglers and illegal narcotics in international waters off South American coastlines since early September....

The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, in the latest escalation and buildup of military forces in the region, the Pentagon announced Friday.