The United States military conducted two separate “lethal kinetic strikes” this week on two boats suspected of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The strikes were the latest efforts of Operation Southern Spear and occurred on May 26 and May 27. Three “narco-terrorists” were reportedly killed during the incidents, according to a press release issued by U.S. Southern Command.
“On May 26, at the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” read Southern Command’s release about the strike.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” said Southern Command. “One male narco-terrorist was killed during this action, and there were two survivors.”
The U.S. military notified the Coast Guard about the survivors from the military strike, and “search and rescue system” efforts were deployed for the survivors. It is uncertain if those recovery efforts were successful.
The following day, another Southern Command strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean resulted in two “narco-terrorists” being killed.
“On May 27, at the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” Southern Command said.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” noted a release. “Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
It was the first military strikes associated with Operation Southern Spear since May 8. The deaths from the two strikes this week bring the total to 10 killed in Operation Southern Spear strikes in May, with previous strikes occurring on May 8, May 5, and May 4.
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This week’s strikes also come after the revelation that the Department of War’s inspector general will review Operation Southern Spear strikes and assess whether those operations complied with military standards, specifically whether the “established framework of the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle” was followed.
“The scope of this evaluation includes the joint process for targeted vessels in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility as part of Operation Southern Spear,” said a spokesperson to the Washington Examiner earlier this month. “This project was self-initiated based on the DoW OIG’s ongoing assessment of DoW programs and operations.”