The United States military announced it conducted its first “lethal kinetic” military strike in May on a suspected drug trafficking vessel in the Southern Hemisphere as part of Operation Southern Spear. The strike occurred in the Caribbean Sea, and two alleged “narco-terrorists” were killed.
U.S. Southern Command announced the strike in a release posted to its website and on its social media channels. It was the first military operation Southern Command conducted in the Caribbean Sea for Operation Southern Spear since April 19.
“On April 19, 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 Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” Southern Command reported.
“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action,” noted the release. “No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
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Similar to the previous videos posted of U.S. military strikes conducted in the Southern Hemisphere, the black-and-white video showed a boat traveling in the water before a large explosion occurred as the boat was hit in the airstrike. There is a blurred image shown on the vessel, believed to be the two people who were killed during the strike.
Sunday’s lethal kinetic strike was at least the 55th military operation conducted on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Southern Hemisphere. There have been at least 187 people killed in the military strikes, according to a tracker by the New York Times. Military action as part of Operation Southern Spear against suspected “narco-terrorists” and drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea, and later the eastern Pacific Ocean, began in September 2025.