A US airstrike on Monday continued the Trump administration's campaign against narcoterrorists, killing three in a drug boat strike in the Caribbean.
US Southern Command announced that Joint Task Force Southern Spear 'conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.'
The military received confirmation from intelligence that the boat was using 'known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean.'
Three men were killed, while no one with the United States military was harmed.
The strike was part of the Trump administration's monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers.
Monday's attack brought the death toll to at least 151 people since the Trump administration launched its war against suspected drug trafficking boats in early September.
It came just a week after the military deployed airstrikes on three boats suspected of drug trafficking in Latin American waters, killing 11 people.
Three more aerial attacks have already been carried out by the Trump administration in the region this month.
A US airstrike continued the Trump administration's campaign against narcoterrorists , killing three in a drug boat strike in the Caribbean on Monday
Monday's attack brought the death toll to at least 151 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls narcoterrorists in small vessels in early September
The first strike on February 5 killed two alleged narco-terrorists. A second on February 9 also killed two but left one survivor.
On Feb. 9, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking… pic.twitter.com/fa5vppjcCy
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) February 10, 2026
A subsequent strike on February 13 also killed three people. In each case, officials said the targeted boats were 'transiting along known narco-trafficking routes' and were 'engaged in narco-trafficking operations.'
President Donald Trump has said the US is in 'armed conflict' with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing narcoterrorists.
Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
The boat strikes also drew intense criticism following the revelation that the military killed survivors of the very first boat attack with a follow-up strike.
The Trump administration and many Republican lawmakers said it was legal and necessary, while Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the killings were murder, if not a war crime.
US Southern Command announced that Joint Task Force Southern Spear 'conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations'
The frequency of the strikes had waned since the US seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on January 3 in an overnight raid.
An organization in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is urging fishermen to take certain precautions after decrying a recent US strike in the eastern Caribbean that killed three people aboard a suspected drug boat.
Winsbert Harry, president of the National Fisherfolk Organization, told St. Vincent´s state television station SVG-TV late Tuesday that he was concerned about the safety of fishermen in the Caribbean.
The campaign in the Caribbean has been named Operation Southern Spear by the Trump administration.
President Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering.
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 13, 2025
Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR.
Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our…
He added: 'The Western Hemisphere is America's neighborhood - and we will protect it.'
