The U.S. military on Monday conducted a strike on a vessel suspected of carrying drugs on an known narco-trafficking route in the Caribbean Sea, killing three alleged narco-terrorists. Photo by U.S. Southern Command/X
The U.S. military on Monday said it had killed three alleged narco-terrorists in a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean believed to have been shipping drugs out of the region.
The strike is the latest in a series of attacks on vessels in the Caribbean, many leaving from Venezuela, that have been alleged to be trafficking drugs to the United States or other parts of the world.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a post on X. “Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
In its post, SOUTHCOM included a 20-second clip of the vessel from above when U.S. forces conducted the “lethal kinetic strike.”
On Feb. 23, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/XUHImPAZik— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) February 23, 2026
The Trump administration has since early September been striking boats and ships in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean that are suspected of trafficking drugs or attempting to ship sanctioned Venezuelan oil as part of Operation Southern Spear.
The strikes have targeted vessels operated by one of 10 criminal groups the administration designated as terrorist organizations in January 2025, which it has said allows the military to pursue and target the boats.
There have been more than 40 strikes, which have been along what SOUTHCOM has said are known trafficking routes and have resulted in the deaths of at least 148 people.
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