The United States military carried out another strike on three narco-terrorist vessels in the Eastern Pacific on Monday, according to officials.
U.S. Southern Command posted on X:
On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of eight male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions—three in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third. #OpSouthernSpear
On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/IQfCVvUpau
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 16, 2025
Since September, the U.S. military has carried out roughly 25 strikes on narco-terrorist targets, killing at least 95 individuals. President Trump has informed Congress that the U.S. is involved in a “non‑international armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, which he designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Democrats have criticized the strikes, complaining about a lack of Congressional oversight, and alleging that the Trump administration is killing 'fishermen.'
Pete Hegseth and Admiral Frank Bradley have recently drawn media scrutiny over a flawed Washington Post article, which claimed that after an initial strike, survivors, whom the Post claimed were non-combatants, were targeted in a second strike that killed them, in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The Trump administration has denied those accusations.
