The U.S. Southern Command said it carried out strikes on three vessels smuggling drugs in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing eight men.
Why It Matters
In recent months, the U.S. military has carried out strikes on more than 20 suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, as part of a campaign President Donald Trump has launched to tackle the smuggling of drugs to the United States. More than 90 people have been killed.
The strikes have increased tensions with Venezuela and Colombia amid a U.S. military buildup in the region and indications from the Trump administration that it will intensify its campaign to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro—including comments from Trump that military strikes on land will soon start.
What To Know
SOUTHCOM said in a statement on X that the strikes on December 15 were undertaken at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” the command said.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of eight male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions—three in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third.”
The attacks on the three boats come after an allegation surfaced that U.S. forces had shot and killed post-explosion survivors in Caribbean waters during the administration’s first publicly announced strike on September 2. That incident has raised questions about rules of engagement, operational oversight and potential violations of international law.
Hegseth has insisted the operations are lawful. He has framed them as “lethal, kinetic strikes” intended to destroy “narco-boats” and kill “narco-terrorists,” while asserting that every trafficker killed was tied to a designated terrorist organization.
But lawmakers and former military lawyers have warned the operations could breach peacetime limits on the use of force and the laws of armed conflict, particularly if survivors of an initial strike were deliberately targeted while shipwrecked, in what could be a violation of specific legal protections.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement on November 29: “Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command.”
What Happens Next
Monday’s strikes suggest the administration is pressing ahead with the mission even as the controversy over the operation deepens.
