NEWS ALERT: U.S. strikes another alleged drug boat in Eastern Pacific, deaths reported

November 17, 2025

The U.S. military conducted a strike on another boat accused of carrying narcotics on board, killing three people, U.S. Southern Command announced Sunday. It was the 21st such strike reported in recent weeks.

The attack on Saturday targeted a vessel operated by “a Designated Terrorist Organization” in the Eastern Pacific in international waters, authorities said. SOUTHCOM did not disclose the organization or where the vessel was traveling from.

In a video posted to social media, SOUTHCOM said the vessel was carrying narcotics and transiting along a known drug-trafficking route.

“On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X.

“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed,” the post explained. “The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific and was struck in international waters.”

The latest strike coincides with a major U.S. military buildup in the region. On Sunday, the nuclear-powered USS Gerald R. Ford—the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier—and its strike group entered the Caribbean under U.S. Southern Command.

The administration says the deployment targets drug trafficking and labels those killed in the strikes “narco-terrorists,” but has offered no supporting evidence.

On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,… pic.twitter.com/iM1PhIsroj

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) November 16, 2025