Donald Trump directed the US military to launch a strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel allegedly headed toward the United States, killing two accused narco-terrorists who were on board.
US Southern Command said the airstrike was carried out Sunday against a ship it described as traveling “along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.”
“Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking,” the command said in its statement. “This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels.”
Grainy black-and-white video released with the announcement showed the vessel moving across the water shortly before a powerful explosion consumed it.
US officials did not identify the exact type of craft that was hit, but its long, narrow shape appeared similar to the semi-submersible vessels often used by cartel smugglers and widely referred to as “narco subs.”
The attack marks the latest escalation in Trump’s campaign against Latin American drug cartels, a military effort launched last September under the name Operation Southern Spear.
Since then, Trump has ordered the Pentagon to conduct dozens of strikes and has released videos showing more than 200 suspected smugglers killed on boats accused of transporting drugs toward the US through the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.
However, neither Trump nor the US military has publicly presented definitive evidence proving that those killed in the operations were involved in drug trafficking.
US Southern Commander said in a statement that the airstrike, which took place Sunday, hit a ship ‘operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific’
Black-and-white footage released alongside the announcement captured the vessel cutting through the water moments before it was engulfed by a massive blast
US officials did not specify what type of craft was targeted, though it resembled an elongated semi-submersible commonly used by cartel members and known as a ‘narco sub’
Trump has since ordered the Pentagon to carry out dozens of attacks, releasing videos showing more than 200 suspected smugglers being killed aboard vessels allegedly carrying drugs toward the US through the eastern Pacific and Caribbean
‘We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,’ said US General Francis L. Donovan in a statement Monday.
Democratic lawmakers have condemned Trump’s campaign against the cartels, arguing that the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings carried out without congressional authorization or clear evidence that those targeted were trafficking drugs.
Trump’s critics have also argued that the majority of fentanyl responsible for US drug overdoses is traditionally trafficked over land from Mexico not by sea.
Fentanyl is typically produced with chemicals imported from China and India before being smuggled into the US from Mexico.
A Pentagon official claimed in March that suspected drug-vessel traffic had fallen by 20 percent in the Caribbean and 25 percent in the eastern Pacific since the strikes began.
However, the Pentagon has not released the underlying vessel totals or explained how it calculated the decline, while SOUTHCOM has refused to disclose its measures of success.
Lawmakers from both parties have demanded unedited footage amid reports that follow-up strikes killed survivors who appeared to surrender.
Critics on Capitol Hill have raised the possibility that the second attack were war crimes, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth argue the survivors remained a potential threat and were therefore legitimate targets.
Critics on Capitol Hill have raised the possibility that the second attack were war crimes, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth argue the survivors remained a potential threat
Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California last December, Hegseth stood firmly behind the follow-up attack.
‘I fully support that strike,’ Hegseth said. ‘I would have made the same call myself.’
Traffickers frequently use the semi-submersible vessels because their low profile allows them to slip past maritime patrols, despite being unable to travel entirely beneath the surface.
Before Trump’s Sunday attack, the last publicly announced strike took place back in June, when the US military killed two suspected smugglers aboard a vessel in the Caribbean and left six survivors.
