The US Armed Forces announced this Tuesday that they have destroyed three other boats in the Pacific and the Caribbean, which they accused of participating in drug trafficking, in an operation that has caused a total of 11 deaths.
The three attacks have occurred within the framework of Operation ‘Southern Lance’, which Washington has been implementing since September in the area of responsibility of the Southern Command, and which was activated with the primary objective of increasing tension around former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, captured in a United States military operation on January 3.
“Late on February 16, under the direction of Southern Command Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the Southern Spear joint force conducted three lethal kinetic strikes against three vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations,” Southern Command said in a statement released Tuesday.
Four men were killed in the first attack, four more in the second and three in the last, according to the US military.
According to the note, Washington confirmed that the vessels “traffic along known drug trafficking routes and participated in drug trafficking operations.”
“Eleven male narcoterrorists died during these actions: four on the first vessel in the eastern Pacific, four on the second vessel in the eastern Pacific, and three on the third vessel in the Caribbean,” the statement concludes.
Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/mib9XtptSB
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) February 17, 2026
Other attacks
These three attacks come after another attack by the US Armed Forces destroyed another boat that was supposedly dedicated to drug trafficking last Friday, February 13, causing the death of its three crew members.
The operation was carried out on a route that the Southern Command identified as usually used by organized crime in international waters of the Caribbean, according to a publication on its official X account.
Just a few days before, on Monday, February 9, the US Southern Command attacked a new boat allegedly linked to drug trafficking in international waters of the Pacific and, during the attack, two crew members were killed and another survived.
Since September, these summary attacks against alleged drug traffickers have now exceeded forty and have left around 150 dead.
Faced with criticism from those who believe that Washington is not granting these alleged drug traffickers due process, the Government of President Donald Trump has argued that its actions are justified because the Administration has declared war on several cartels and organizations linked to drug trafficking in Latin America.
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