The U.S. military carried out its most recent strike targeting a suspected drone boat in the Western Hemisphere on Sunday, which killed two people and left six others stranded.U.S. Southern Command said on social media the targeted vessel was “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization” and “was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” The military, as it usually does, posted a grainy video of the strike, but did not show specific evidence demonstrating there were drugs on board.“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said. Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action, and there were six male survivors.”
SOUTHCOM notified the Coast Guard to activate search and rescue operations, which, in turn, informed the Rescue Coordination Center Venezuela because the area where the survivors were believed to be was outside its jurisdiction, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Monday. It’s unclear if they have been recovered.Broadly, the RCC for the Coast Guard will inform relevant international RCC counterparts when they receive a request for a mission outside their area of responsibility, as with Sunday’s strike.Sunday’s strike brings the total number of U.S. boat strikes to more than 60, and those have killed more than 210 people whom the Trump administration has characterized as narco-terrorists. The U.S. began carrying out these operations in September 2025.Last month, the Department of Defense’s inspector general announced that it would review whether the strikes against alleged drug smugglers followed the required targeting process.“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,” a DoDIG spokesperson told the Washington Examiner at the time. “This project was self-initiated based on the DoW OIG’s ongoing assessment of DoW programs and operations.”PENTAGON INSPECTOR GENERAL TO REVIEW US STRIKES ON SUSPECTED DRUG BOATSThe recent strategy of using lethal means for suspected drug smugglers raised alarms on Capitol Hill last fall, but the department has maintained the more aggressive plan of action, despite criticism. The question of what U.S. troops should do if mariners survive a U.S. strike has been highly scrutinized.Following the first such strike, which occurred on Sept. 2, 2025, U.S. troops carried out a second strike to ensure the survivor of the first one was killed. In later instances, Southern Command notified the U.S. Coast Guard of possible survivors so the latter could launch search-and-rescue operations, as it did over the weekend.
