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Latest U.S. Strikes on Drug Boats Raise Death Toll to At Least 135

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New Pacific and Caribbean Attacks Kill Eleven Occupants The U.S. Southern Command reported that on Monday night, three vessels—two in the eastern Pacific and one in the Caribbean—were hit, killing all 11 people aboard [1]. Four crew members died on each Pacific boat and three on the Caribbean craft, and no U.S. forces were injured [1]. The operation follows a Friday strike in the Caribbean that killed three additional individuals [1].

Campaign Death Count Now Exceeds One Hundred Thirty‑Five Since the first strike on September 2, the military has conducted 40 lethal attacks on drug‑trafficking boats, resulting in 124 deaths reported on February 14 [2]. The latest strike adds eleven more, bringing the cumulative toll to at least 135 [1]. The campaign has involved 40 separate boat engagements across the eastern Pacific and Caribbean [2].

Classified Legal Opinion Labels Traffickers as Enemy Combatants Trump‑era classified memo authorized lethal force against a secret list of at least two dozen cartels, designating them as enemy combatants [1]. The administration frames the operation as an “armed conflict” that bypasses traditional criminal prosecution [2]. Democratic lawmakers and legal experts argue the strikes constitute unlawful killings of civilians, prompting congressional investigations [1][2].

Coast Guard Maintains Non‑Lethal Interdiction and Survivor Searches Before September, interdiction was handled by the Coast Guard, which continues to seize narcotics without lethal force [1]. After a December 30 strike, the Coast Guard launched three separate searches for abandoned survivors, suspending the first on January 2 and restarting searches on January 23 and February 9 [2]. These efforts highlight ongoing concern for missing persons despite the classified nature of the strikes [2].

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Timeline

Sep 2, 2025 – US Navy fires missiles at a vessel off Venezuela suspected of carrying cocaine, marking the first lethal strike on a drug boat; minutes later a second missile hits the wreck, killing two survivors clinging to debris, as briefed by Admiral Frank Bradley. [28]

Sep 5, 2025 – The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issues a 40‑page opinion classifying drug trafficking as a terrorist activity, providing the legal basis for lethal force against suspected narcotics vessels. [28]

Sep 2025 – Operation Southern Spear launches, targeting drug‑smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and framing the campaign as a non‑international armed conflict with designated terrorist organizations. [3,24]

Dec 15, 2025 – US forces strike three alleged drug‑smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific, killing eight men (three, two, and three per vessel); the attacks are ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear. [27,24]

Dec 17, 2025 – A kinetic strike on a drug‑trafficking vessel in international waters kills four crew members; President Trump later claims a 94 % drop in drug imports by sea. [23,22]

Dec 18, 2025 – Two vessels are hit in the Eastern Pacific, killing five people and pushing the cumulative death toll from the campaign past 100; Defense Secretary Hegseth announces the strike as a “lethal kinetic” operation. [20,21]

Dec 22‑23, 2025 – Multiple low‑profile vessels are struck: a Dec 22 attack kills one person, a Dec 23 strike kills another, and a separate Dec 23 attack kills a third individual; videos show explosions and a fire‑damaged hull drifting after each strike. [17,18,30]

Dec 29‑30, 2025 – US Southern Command conducts back‑to‑back strikes: Dec 29 kills two men on a designated‑terrorist vessel; Dec 30 a separate strike kills two more, bringing the known boat‑strike count to 30 and total fatalities to at least 107. [29,15,16]

Dec 31, 2025 – A dual strike on December 31 kills five people across two attacks on suspected drug boats; the US labels the operation part of Operation Southern Spear and alerts the Coast Guard for search‑and‑rescue. [12]

Early Jan 2026 – US forces capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a high‑profile raid, intensifying the geopolitical backdrop of the boat‑strike campaign. [1,8,9]

Jan 1, 2026 – US military reports a strike on two drug‑carrying boats that kills five people, following a convoy attack the previous day that killed at least three; the campaign now exceeds 30 strikes and 110 deaths. [2]

Jan 2, 2026 – Colombian President Gustavo Petro says survivors jumped into the Pacific to escape a US strike, calling the attacks “murders” and warning the campaign could widen regional conflict. [12]

Jan 3, 2026 – The US Coast Guard suspends a 65‑hour search for people in the water after a series of strikes that killed at least 10 and sunk six boats; earlier that day the service had begun a large‑scale hunt for survivors near the Mexico‑Guatemala border. [10,11]

Jan 23, 2026 – US Southern Command launches its first lethal strike since the Maduro raid, hitting a narco‑boat in the Eastern Pacific; two crew members die, one survives, and the Coast Guard initiates a rescue operation. [8,9]

Feb 5, 2026 – Under newly appointed SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducts a kinetic strike on a designated‑terrorist vessel, killing two occupants; this is the second lethal boat strike of 2026. [5]

Feb 6, 2026 – A US strike on an alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific kills two; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posts that “some top cartel drug‑traffickers… have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY,” and the Pentagon reports the campaign’s death toll at 128. [1,7]

Feb 14, 2026 – The Coast Guard launches its third survivor search, this time for a missing crew member from a December strike, illustrating ongoing humanitarian follow‑up despite the campaign’s classified nature. [6]

Feb 17, 2026 – US forces strike three alleged drug‑trafficking vessels (two in the Pacific, one in the Caribbean), killing all 11 occupants and raising the campaign’s cumulative death toll to at least 135; a classified memo from fall 2025 had authorized lethal force against a secret list of cartels. [4]

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