The U.S. Southern Command killed three people on Thursday after attacking what it considered a smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, raising the death toll to 211 in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, when the Trump administration launched a military campaign under the pretext of combating narco-terrorism, despite the systematic omission of evidence linking the victims to drug trafficking or illicit substances.
The operation was executed by Joint Task Force Southern Spear under General Francis L. Donovan. The Pentagon released audiovisual footage showing the pursuit and burning of the speedboat after a lethal projectile impact, a procedure that lacks international legal basis and is justified solely through political rhetoric.
RELATED: Operation ‘Southern Spear’ Claims 186th Life as U.S. Attacks Boat in International Waters
Analysts have long noted that most fentanyl entering the U.S. arrives through land ports, not via sea interdictions. Several U.S. Congress members have formally demanded the release of unedited videos of the naval operations, citing deep concern over repeated allegations of extrajudicial executions at sea that violate international law and humanitarian norms.
Among the precedents cited is the case of two shipwreck survivors who were killed after a second military strike while clinging to wreckage.
On June 18, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/22B31fjZUK
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) June 18, 2026
The systematic violation of regional maritime sovereignty by U.S. forces reveals a warlike escalation that criminalizes navigation in international waters without judicial oversight, experts emphasized. No formal criminal proceedings have been initiated against any of the deceased, and no physical or operational evidence of illicit substances has been presented for any of the attacks.
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