US strikes another boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four, amid escalating questions about its counter-drug offensive

Source: CNN

Politics - 3 min read

US strikes another boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four, amid escalating questions about its counter-drug offensive

By Samantha Waldenberg
Updated 1 hr 3 min ago
Updated Dec 4, 2025, 8:38 PM ET
PUBLISHED Dec 4, 2025, 7:04 PM ET


This screengrab from a video posted by the US Southern Command shows a strike on a vessel on December 4, at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. (US Southern Command/X)

The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.

"Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed," the post says. (1)

Alongside the post is a 21-second-long video showing the boat being struck.

Thursday's strike comes as the Pentagon is facing bipartisan criticism over a September attack on an alleged drug vessel in which the military fired follow-up strikes, killing surviving crew members. At least 87 people have now been killed in strikes on 23 suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.

US Navy Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley briefed leaders on Capitol Hill Thursday about that September incident in what is the most significant congressional scrutiny of the president's military campaign in the Caribbean so far.

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Link to tweet