The United States reported on Monday that its Southern Spear Joint Task Force carried out a new lethal strike in international waters of the Eastern Pacific, resulting in the sinking of three vessels and the deaths of eight alleged "narcoterrorists."
The operation was ordered directly by the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and was conducted under the command of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), as confirmed by the agency itself in a message posted on the social media platform X.
According to the official statement, the action took place on December 15 and consisted of "lethal kinetic strikes" against three vessels that, according to U.S. intelligence, were operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations and were traveling along a well-known drug trafficking route.
Three sunken boats and eight dead
SOUTHCOM specified that a total of eight men died: three occupants in the first attacked vessel, two in the second, and three in the third. All were classified by Washington as "narco-terrorists."
The military report does not mention any captures or rescues, confirming that it was an exclusively lethal operation at sea.
Southern Spear campaign escalation
This attack adds to a series of recent operations by the Southern Spear Task Force against vessels linked to drug trafficking in both the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.
In November, the United States had already reported a similar attack in which a boat was destroyed and its three crew members died, also along a common drug smuggling route. At that time, Washington stated that the campaign had resulted in the destruction of over twenty vessels and dozens of deaths among those involved in the illicit drug trade.
Another subsequent attack against a vessel in international waters followed the same operational pattern: identification of the suspicious boat, use of lethal force, and the absence of detainees to be brought before the courts.
The political framework: open war against the cartels
The operations of Southern Spear are part of the military offensive launched by the administration of Donald Trump against drug cartels, framed within the mission known as "Southern Lance."
Trump declared the United States to be in a “non-international armed conflict” against these criminal organizations, labeling fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” and ordering the use of “all available resources” to combat them.
At the same time, Southern Command has intensified its military presence in the region, deploying warships, aircraft carriers, and amphibious units to the Caribbean, along with live-fire exercises and an increase in aerial patrols near countries like Venezuela.
The new attack in the Eastern Pacific confirms the continuity of this strategy: a sustained military campaign, using lethal force in international waters and without judicial proceedings for the suspects killed.
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