SOUTHCOM Says U.S. Strikes Kill Five Alleged Narco‑Terrorists on Eastern Pacific Trafficking Routes
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SOUTHCOM said Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted two lethal kinetic strikes on April 11 against small vessels transiting known narco‑trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific, destroying both boats and killing five alleged "narco‑terrorists" — two killed and one survivor in the first strike, three killed in the second — with the Coast Guard conducting search‑and‑rescue for the lone survivor and no U.S. forces harmed. The action, which War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the administration have framed as part of a broader counter‑cartel campaign that NPR says has killed at least 168 people since early September, has prompted criticism over SOUTHCOM’s lack of publicly disclosed evidence, questions about legality and effectiveness (noting most fentanyl enters overland), and circulating videos on X showing the boats engulfed in explosions.