The U.S. military has conducted 67 strikes against suspected drug cartel vessels at sea since September 2025 as part of Operation Southern Spear, with officials issuing a stark warning that traffickers will be hunted down and killed if they threaten Americans. Newly unclassified Pentagon images show suspected drug-smuggling boats speeding through open water under U.S. military surveillance.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson stated that the operation's message to narco-terrorists remains unchanged: "if you traffic deadly illicit narcotics and threaten the American people, we hunt you down, we will find you, and we will kill you." The operation aims to disrupt trafficking networks, force traffickers to adapt their methods, and remove "dangerous narcoterrorists."
One of the more recent strikes occurred on August 25, when the U.S. Southern Command reported that four alleged drug smugglers were killed aboard a fast boat operating along known trafficking routes in the Caribbean. Confirmed intelligence indicated the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking. This operation was executed by Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere under the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, who stated, "We will hunt, disrupt, and defeat these narco-terrorist networks." SOUTHCOM expressed resolve in neutralizing cartel terror and violence throughout the region and into the U.S. homeland.
Days prior to the Caribbean strike, the U.S. military announced that two individuals were killed in a strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, marking the first reported strike in over two months. The Trump administration has targeted suspected cartel vessels in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans since September 2025, asserting these vessels were carrying narcotics.
President Trump has characterized the campaign as an "armed conflict" with cartels in Latin America, deeming the attacks necessary to prevent drugs from reaching American communities and contributing to fatal overdoses. The administration is also pursuing agreements with allied nations to potentially extend the campaign onto land in several Latin American countries. While Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras have reportedly agreed to joint operations against criminal groups on their soil, Guatemala has denied such an agreement. Ecuador initiated similar missions with the U.S. in March.