Jan. 1 (UPI) — The U.S. military has attacked two more alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Southern Command area of responsibility on Wednesday, though it’s unclear where.
The U.S. Southern Command posted on X: “On Dec. 31, at the direction of [Secretary of Defense] Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of five narco-terrorists were killed during these actions — three in the first vessel and two in the second.”
It’s not clear if the strikes were in the Caribbean or the Pacific, where the other attacks on alleged drug boats have happened since September. It’s also not clear what “Designated Terrorist Organizations” means specifically.
Southcom told The Hill on Wednesday that “due to operational security reasons, we will not comment on the location.”
Since Sept. 2, the Department of Defense has done at least 35 strikes against alleged drug boats, killing at least 115 people.
On Monday, President Donald Trump confirmed the military hit a “dock area” that officials said they believe is used to transfer drugs to boats for international distribution. It was the first time an onshore target was hit.