OAN Staff Addie Davis
8:20 AM – Tuesday, May 5, 2026
The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced its most recent strike against narco-traffickers, carried out by the Joint Task Force Southern Spear as part of its ongoing mission targeting drug-traffickers on the seas.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM said in a Monday statement.
Video footage posted by the command shows the moment the U.S. strike turned the ship into a giant fireball. Two male individuals, labeled as narco-terrorists, were killed by the action, though no U.S. forces were harmed, SOUTHCOM stated.
Operation Southern Spear was launched in September, 2025, and dozens of strikes have since been carried out in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific on suspected narco-trafficking boats, killing nearly 200 individuals identified as narco-terrorists.
In January, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a process for certain international cartels and other organizations to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations, creating the framework for such vessels to be targeted by military forces.
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