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The Trump administration ordered lethal strikes this week against vessels it said were involved in narco-trafficking operations, killing 11 suspected narco-terrorists in three separate actions in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear carried out the operations at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the command’s leader. Officials said no U.S. forces were injured.
In a statement posted on social media, SOUTHCOM said intelligence indicated the vessels were operating along known drug-trafficking routes and were engaged in trafficking activities, though the military did not provide supporting evidence or identify specific drug shipments.
“Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” SOUTHCOM wrote in a statement.
“Eleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” it added.
The strikes are part of Operation Southern Spear, a maritime campaign the Pentagon says targets organizations involved in drug trafficking that it designates as terrorist groups. The operation marks a shift toward the use of air and maritime force rather than traditional interdictions and arrests.
The campaign began in early September and has been conducted in international waters across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, regions where the United States has long supported counterdrug surveillance and joint operations with the U.S. Coast Guard and partner nations.
Tuesday’s strikes increased the reported death toll from the campaign. Independent tallies and recent reports indicate at least 144 people have been killed in at least 41 strikes since operations began, according to publicly available figures.
The Trump administration has defended the operations as necessary to disrupt narcotics trafficking and weaken cartel networks. Senior officials, including War Secretary Pete Hegseth, have said the strategy has helped deter trafficking, though detailed case-by-case evidence has not been publicly released.
