The US military has struck three suspected drug-trafficking vessels in waters off Latin America, killing 11 people, according to US Southern Command, in the latest escalation against maritime narcotics networks launched under the Trump administration.
The strikes took place Monday in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. US Southern Command said all those killed were suspected traffickers and that no American personnel were injured.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the command said in a statement posted Tuesday.
“Eleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean. No US military forces were harmed,” it added.
LATEST STRIKES IN US DRUG CRACKDOWN
The operation is part of a series of US maritime strikes launched since last year against boats suspected of links to cartels and trafficking groups. The Defence Department says more than 40 such strikes have killed over 130 people.
US Southern Command said the latest attacks were directed by its commander, Marine Corps Gen. Francis Donovan. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the operation on social media, writing, “Turns out President’s Day — under President Trump — is not a good day to run drugs.”
The Trump administration says the campaign is meant to disrupt maritime routes used to move cocaine and other drugs toward North America, with US officials long describing Venezuela and surrounding waters as major trafficking corridors.
Before the campaign began, US counter-narcotics efforts at sea were led mainly by the Coast Guard and law-enforcement agencies, which focused on interdiction and arrest rather than lethal force.
The latest attacks are also unfolding amid strained US-Venezuela relations following Washington’s move earlier this year to capture President Nicols Maduro and his wife on narcoterrorism charges.
With inputs from agencies
