The United States military conducted another strike on Sunday against a boat suspected of trafficking drugs “operated by a designated terrorist organization.” Three people were killed in the operation, which happened in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Similar to the other videos posted by the U.S. military, this video featured black-and-white footage of a boat traveling in water before being struck and blown up. The United States Southern Command posted video of the strike on its website and social media.
“On April 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 the release.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” noted Southern Command. “Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
This was the second strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific in two days. On April 24, two “narco-traffickers” were killed. Sunday’s military operation in the eastern Pacific brought the total number of strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats to 54, with 185 people killed, according to a tracker by the New York Times.
Southern Command celebrated the progress made in “delivering critical blows to narco-terrorist networks and other illicit or sanctioned activities” along with operations that seized ships illegally transporting sanctioned oil.
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“These operations cut off a vital revenue stream for transnational criminal organizations, designated terrorist organizations, and malign state actors,” read a release issued by Southern Command recognizing its accomplishments.
Gen. Francis L. Donovan, U.S. SOUTHCOM commander, touted the progress made in disabling narco-terrorist networks in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Joint Task Force Southern Spear continues to conduct decisive operations to detect, disrupt, and dismantle narco-terrorist networks,” said Gen. Francis L. Donovan, U.S. SOUTHCOM commander. “In support of the President’s directives, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team, accompanied by U.S. Marine Corps Special Purpose Forces, continue to support maritime interdiction operations to target the dark fleet that is enabling U.S. adversaries across the globe.”