The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced Sunday that American forces carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” against a drug trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing six suspected narco-terrorists on board.
According to SOUTHCOM, the boat was linked to designated terrorist organizations and was traveling along known narcotics trafficking routes while actively engaged in drug smuggling operations.
The military confirmed that all six individuals aboard the vessel were killed during the operation.
“No U.S. military forces were harmed,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
The strike was ordered by SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan and carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear, a counter-narcotics initiative launched in November 2025 by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Operation Southern Spear was created to expand the U.S. military’s role in combating international drug cartels operating across Latin America and the Eastern Pacific. The initiative targets maritime trafficking routes frequently used to move narcotics toward the United States.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, Sunday’s strike brings the total number of deaths connected to the operation to at least 157 people across 45 strikes since the program began.
Defense officials say the campaign is designed to deter cartel operations by targeting drug shipments before they reach land.
Speaking last week at the Americas Counter Cartel Conference, Hegseth said the offensive approach has significantly weakened narcotics trafficking networks.
“Going on offense with Operation Southern Spear has restored deterrence against the narco-terrorist cartels that profited from poisoning Americans,” Hegseth said.
He argued that previous law enforcement approaches had little impact because traffickers often viewed arrest as a manageable risk.
“The much weaker deterrence — being arrested and then released — was priced in by the cartels long ago,” he said.
Hegseth added that the operation’s impact has already been visible in cartel behavior.
“Last month we went several weeks without targeting a single boat,” he said. “We couldn’t find many boats to sink, and that’s the point — to establish deterrence.”
The defense secretary also pointed to declining overdose deaths and reduced fentanyl trafficking as signs that the strategy may be working.
“Drug overdoses that kill our citizens have dropped; flows of fentanyl, a weapon of mass destruction, are down 56 percent,” he said.
President Donald Trump also highlighted the operation during the recent “Shield of the Americas” summit with Latin American leaders held at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
During the meeting, Trump encouraged partner nations to adopt similar military strategies to combat drug cartels operating throughout the Western Hemisphere.
“The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” Trump said. “You have to use your military.”
The president also warned that failing to confront cartel activity could destabilize entire countries, pointing to Mexico as an example.
“The cartels are running Mexico,” Trump said during the summit. “We can’t have that. It’s too close to us — too close to you.”
U.S. defense officials say operations like Southern Spear will continue as part of a broader strategy aimed at disrupting narcotics trafficking networks across the region.
