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Southern Command Strikes Three More Suspected Drug Boats, Killing Eight

Drug boat strike
Courtesy US Southern Command

Published Dec 16, 2025 12:57 AM by The Maritime Executive

 

On Monday, U.S. Southern Command reported that its forces attached and destroyed three drug-smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific, killing the occupants. 

In a statement, Southern Command emphasized that it carried out the strikes at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Based on intelligence suggesting that the boats were engaged in narco-trafficking, including their presence in the known Eastern Pacific smuggling lanes, U.S. forces launched three aerial attacks. 

Three suspected smugglers were killed in the first strike; two more in the second; and three more in the third and final attack, Southern Command said. The command released video footage documenting the events.

It is the first time since December 4 that the Pentagon has announced a round of attacks, and follows weeks of criticism from members of Congress over the department's methods. A "double-tap" follow-up strike that killed two survivors of an earlier Southern Command attack has attracted particular scrutiny, and Hegseth is scheduled to provide a rare briefing to the full House and full Senate tomorrow on the details of that engagement. 

The Trump administration describes the targets of the strikes as "narco-terrorists" or "cartel terrorists," but reporting on the ground in South America suggests that most hired-on drug boat operators are fishermen, laborers, petty criminals and other low-income individuals with few economic options. The Pentagon has not disclosed the identities of those eliminated in the strikes, if any are known. The majority of the deceased remain unidentified, according to MSNBC.

The strikes have attracted criticism in legal circles over questions of compliance with the international law of war. The Trump administration maintains that the attacks are legally justified.