US kills six people in attack on a boat linked to drug trafficking in the Pacific

Miami.- The U.S. Armed Forces killed six men this Sunday in a new attack on a boat in the Pacific allegedly linked to drug trafficking, announced the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), bringing the total to at least 45 vessels attacked since these actions began in September 2025.

The attack occurred within the framework of Operation Southern Spear, with which the United States has killed more than 150 people on these ships in the Pacific and Atlantic to combat drug trafficking in the area of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, it claims, in addition to increasing pressure on Venezuela. The Southern Command assured that U.S. forces “conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by organizations designated as terrorists.” “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along known drug trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and was involved in drug trafficking operations. Six narco-terrorists died in this action. No U.S. military forces suffered damage,” SOUTHCOM stated on its social media. This new attack comes after a recent operation that left three dead on February 23 in the Caribbean, also due to alleged drug trafficking.

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The action also occurs after the launch of the ‘Shield of the Americas’ initiative by US President Donald Trump, who on Saturday brought together more than a dozen right-wing Latin American leaders in Miami to create a new military coalition against “narco-terrorists”. As a demonstration of this cooperation, the United States SOUTHCOM and Ecuador conducted their first joint military operation against drug trafficking in the South American country last week. While Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed an agreement with nearly 20 Latin American and Caribbean governments on Thursday to commit them to fight against “narco-terrorists” after warning them that the United States “is ready” to launch a “solo offensive” if there is no cooperation.

Although civil organizations, Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans have labeled these attacks as illegal, the Trump administration has argued that its actions are justified because it is in an “armed conflict” with cartels and terrorist organizations linked to drug trafficking from Latin America.