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The US military has carried out a strike in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on a vessel allegedly carrying drugs, killing three people, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said on Monday.
"On April 26, at the direction of SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel," a post by the US Southern Command on X read. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the Southern Command, which oversees US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said. The Southern Command also posted a video on X showing a boat exploding in flames. At least 186 people have been killed since early September in the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, as per CBS News, which said that other strikes have taken place in the Caribbean Sea. The American broadcaster said that at least eight boat strikes have occurred in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific so far this month. A report in the New York Times said the latest strike marked the 54th attack the US has conducted since September. US forces had in January seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the Trump administration has accused of participating in narco-terrorism schemes. The US military campaign Operation Southern Spear began in September 2025, involving airstrikes by the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific suspected of drug trafficking. As per a report in the NYT, the White House has said the killings are lawful, arguing that President Trump has "determined" that the United States is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels and that crews of drug-running boats are "combatants." Meanwhile, US forces are escorting the sanctioned merchant vessel 'Sevan' that it had intercepted in the Arabian Sea on Saturday (local US time) amidst enforcement of a US-led blockade on Iranian energy exports. Sevan, according to the US Central Command, was among a 19-vessel "shadow fleet" sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury for "activities related to transporting billions of dollars worth of Iranian energy, oil and gas products, including propane and butane, to foreign markets." The CENTCOM in a statement posted on X said that Sevan was intercepted in the Arabian Sea by a US Navy helicopter from guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91), and the merchant vessel "is currently complying with U.S. military direction to turn back to Iran under escort." US forces continue to enforce US sanctions and fully implement the blockade against ships entering or departing Iranian ports. 37 vessels have been redirected since the start of the blockade, said the US Central Command. (ANI)
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