Americas
US military strikes another alleged drug boat in Caribbean, killing 3
From staff and wire reports
February 14, 2026
A still frame image taken from social media video shows a boat alleged carrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea that was destroyed by the U.S. military on Feb. 13, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command/X)
The U.S. military conducted another strike on an alleged boat on Friday, killing three people, according to U.S. Southern Command.
Southcom that the boat “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It said the strike killed three people. A video linked to the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames.
The death toll from the strikes on alleged drug boats is now at 133 people in at least 39 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared last week that “some top cartel drug-traffickers” in the region “have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean.” However, Hegseth did not provide any details or information to back up this claim, made in a post on his personal account on social media.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”