USS Gerald R. Ford transits the Strait of Gibraltar on Nov. 4, 2025, as it leaves the Mediterranean Sea on its way to the Caribbean. (Triniti Lersch/U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. conducted another strike on an alleged drug boat on Monday in the Caribbean Sea, killing four people, a Pentagon official confirmed Thursday.
There were no survivors from the strike, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
U.S. Southern Command confirmed the strike in a post on X on Friday.
Monday’s operation is at least the 20th conducted in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility since September. The death toll from the strikes is up to 80 people; the Mexican navy suspended its search for a survivor of a strike in late October.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday formally named the mission Operation Southern Spear, emphasizing the growing significance and permanence of the military’s presence in the region.
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump designated several drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. His administration has asserted that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with cartels and will treat their members as “unlawful combatants.”
The Pentagon has not revealed more information about the latest strike. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has posted on X about previous operations that “narco-terrorists” were targeted on known drug trafficking routes and included short video clips of strikes.
Most strikes have taken place in the Caribbean, near Venezuela, though an increasing number are happening in the eastern Pacific.
The latest strike comes amid a continuing buildup of military forces in the region. The Ford Carrier Strike Group arrived in the area Tuesday, which concentrates nearly 20% of the Navy’s deployed warships in the region. Hegseth announced the carrier group’s deployment last month.
Actions taken by the U.S. are raising concerns among other nations.
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the U.S. about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in U.S. military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, CNN reported.
Colombia President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X Tuesday directing all public security forces to “suspend the sending of communications and other dealings with U.S. security agencies” in response to the strikes.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, expressed concern Tuesday about the legal foundation for the U.S. military strikes.
“We have followed with concern the strikes carried out by the United States in international waters, in disregard of international law and the law of the sea,” Barrot told the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
