ISTANBUL
The US military said Monday it had carried out a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, marking the first reported such strike in more than two months.
“Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out a lethal kinetic strike against a low-profile vessel traveling along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a statement on US social media company X.
SOUTHCOM said two people were killed in Sunday’s strike.
Before the two-month pause, the US military had destroyed at least 67 vessels and killed at least 221 people since the “Operation Southern Spear” campaign began in September 2025.
In its statement Monday, SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan reaffirmed the US military’s commitment to combating drug trafficking, saying: “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists – disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region.”
“This operation is a powerful demonstration of our lethal precision, overwhelming capability, and absolute resolve to protect the U.S. homeland,” Donovan said in the post.
