The U.S. military destroyed another suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Monday, continuing a crackdown on transnational crime at sea.
U.S. Southern Command said the strike was authorized by War Secretary Pete Hegseth and targeted a boat operated by a U.S.-designated terrorist organization in international waters.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two male narco-terrorists were killed. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” Southern Command posted on X, sharing a video of the strike.
On Dec. 29, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 29, 2025
The strike was part of Joint Task Force Southern Spear, a counter-narcotics operation to disrupt drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. The initiative has so far taken out thirty boats carrying at least 106 suspected narco-terrorists.
Southern Command’s announcement came as President Donald Trump said American forces had taken out a drug facility at a Venezuelan port allegedly used to load narcotics onto smuggling vessels.
“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said Monday. “We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area… it’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement, and that is no longer around.”
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The New York Times reported that the CIA conducted the strike and that the port was operated by Tren de Aragua, a violent gang that has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration. No one was killed.
Last week, the Trump administration began deploying a large number of special operations aircraft, troops, and military equipment to the southern Caribbean as part of its pressure campaign against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
“He can do whatever he wants. We have a massive armada formed, the biggest we’ve ever had – by far the biggest we’ve ever had in South America. He could do whatever he wants. It’s alright. Whatever he wants to do, if he wants to do something. If he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” Trump said last week.
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