US Military Strikes Alleged Drug Vessel in the Eastern Pacific
Two killed in a strike on what appeared to be a semi-submersible craft, taking the toll past 200
The United States military said on Monday that it had carried out a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people.
US Southern Command said the strike, which took place on Sunday, targeted a vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific, and that confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking. "This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels," the command said.
Grainy black-and-white video footage accompanying the statement showed a boat moving through the water before a large explosion. The military did not identify the type of craft, but it appears to be a long semi-submersible vessel of the type often described as a narco submarine. These craft cannot submerge fully, and are used by traffickers because their low freeboard and small radar signature can defeat detection by law enforcement.
"We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists, disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region," General Francis L. Donovan said in a statement on Monday.
The strike came days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US would extend its offensive onto land across multiple Latin American countries. During a visit to Panama, Hegseth said Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement. Ecuador launched similar missions with the US in March.
The US military launched operation Southern Spear last September. Since then more than 200 people have been killed in strikes in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea. The administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels struck are involved in drug trafficking.
Questions over legality and effectiveness have followed the campaign. Part of the argument concerns fentanyl, which is typically trafficked overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India. Lawmakers have demanded release of unedited video of the first strike after reports that a follow-on strike was conducted on survivors of the initial attack, and some have questioned whether that constituted a war crime. The Defense Department and several congressional Republicans have maintained the survivors may still have been in the fight. The Pentagon's watchdog said in May it planned to examine whether the military followed the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle, an evaluation that does not address the legality of the strikes.
