Florida, April 27 (ANI): The U.S. military carried out a strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean on a vessel allegedly involved in drug trafficking, killing three people, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said Monday.
“On April 26, at the direction of SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel,” the command said in a post on X.
Intelligence confirmed the vessel was traveling along known narcotics trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and was engaged in drug-smuggling operations, SOUTHCOM said. The command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, also released a video showing the vessel engulfed in flames.
At least 186 people have been killed since early September as part of the Trump administration’s strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, according to CBS News. Other strikes have occurred in the Caribbean Sea, with at least eight reported in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific so far this month.
A report by The New York Times said the latest strike marked the 54th such attack conducted by the United States since September.
U.S. forces in January also seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the Trump administration has accused of involvement in narco-terrorism schemes.
The U.S. military campaign, Operation Southern Spear, began in September 2025 and involves coordinated airstrikes by the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific suspected of drug trafficking.
According to The New York Times, the White House has defended the operations as lawful, stating that President Donald Trump has determined the United States is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels and that crews of drug-running vessels are considered combatants.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces are escorting the sanctioned merchant vessel Sevan, which was intercepted in the Arabian Sea on Saturday (local U.S. time) as part of enforcement of a U.S.-led blockade on Iranian energy exports.
According to U.S. Central Command, Sevan is among a group of 19 vessels in a so-called “shadow fleet” sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for transporting billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian energy products, including oil, gas, propane, and butane, to foreign markets.
CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X that the vessel was intercepted by a U.S. Navy helicopter from the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) and is currently complying with U.S. military instructions to return to Iran under escort.
U.S. forces continue to enforce sanctions and fully implement the blockade against ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. A total of 37 vessels have been redirected since the start of the blockade, according to U.S. Central Command. (ANI)
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