Americas
US strike on alleged drug boat kills 2 in Eastern Pacific
Stars and Stripes
April 25, 2026
U.S. forces operating under Joint Task Force Southern Spear on Friday, April 24, 2026, struck a vessel allegedly engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement. (U.S. Southern Command via X)
U.S. forces operating under Joint Task Force Southern Spear on Friday struck a vessel allegedly engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.
The command said the vessel was operated by “Designated Terrorist Organizations” and that two alleged narco-terrorists were killed in the strike, using similar language to previous statements about such strikes.
No U.S. forces were harmed in the operation, the command said.
Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s name for the campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America, has continued despite the U.S. military’s focus on the Middle East. Strikes under the operation have increased in frequency in recent weeks, after a relative lull that followed the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
The strikes, which began in early September, have killed at least 183 people in total in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.