The US military sank another suspected drug vessel in the Pacific Ocean Thursday, marking the 22nd strike under the Trump administration’s Operation Southern Spear and the first since War Secretary Pete Hegseth was accused of ordering survivors of a boat bombing be killed.
The latest lethal strike killed “four male narco-terrorists” traveling on a vessel operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization” in international waters, according to US Southern Command.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific,” US Southern Command said.
The strike is the first in more than two weeks and brings the total number of alleged drug runners killed at sea since September to 86.
The US military launched another attack against an alleged drug vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. U.S. Southern Command, /X
Four narco-terrorists were killed in the strike. U.S. Southern Command, /X
Footage of the strike shared on social media by US Southern Command showed a boat racing across the ocean before it’s stopped dead in its tracks by a fiery explosion.
The strike came on the same day House and Senate lawmakers questioned the Navy admiral who directed strikes against a suspected drug-running boat in the Caribbean Sea on Sept. 2.
Controversy has surrounded the Sept. 2 mission since last week, when the Washington Post reported that Hegseth ordered no survivors be left in the strike – the first of Operation Southern Spear.
Adm. Frank Bradley, head of US Special Operations Command, told lawmakers that he gave the final order for both the initial missile hit and several additional strikes that killed 11 people following a directive by Pete Hegseth to destroy the boat and its narcotic cargo.
The attack, ordered by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, was the 22nd strike so far. MediaPunch / BACKGRIDBradley and a group of Pentagon officials briefed lawmakers and played footage of the controversial strike to provide context.
Hegseth maintains that he stopped monitoring the video feed after the initial hit and did not notice the survivors or give orders to kill them.
Bradley reportedly ordered additional strikes against the wrecked boat after concluding that the two survivors were attempting to communicate to other nearby suspected drug smugglers by radio.
Several Democratic lawmakers have suggested Hegseth and Bradley may have committed a war crime by taking out the survivors.
