US carries out more lethal strikes on alleged narco vessels

US forces carried out lethal strikes against three vessels in international waters on 15 December, killing eight men described by Washington as “narco-terrorists”, as the Trump administration continues its expanding maritime campaign in the Caribbean.

According to a statement, the strikes were conducted by Joint Task Force Southern Spear “at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth”. The vessels were said to be operated by organisations designated by the US as terrorist groups and were intercepted along “known narco-trafficking routes” in the Eastern Pacific.

US officials said intelligence indicated the vessels were actively engaged in drug trafficking. Three men were killed aboard the first vessel, two on the second and three on the third. The operation is part of a broader US military campaign launched in September, initially focused on the Caribbean Sea and later expanded into the Eastern Pacific. The White House has framed the strikes as a mission to combat maritime drug trafficking into the United States.

The Trump administration has alleged that targeted vessels are operated by groups it labels as narco-terrorist organisations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua criminal network and Colombia’s National Liberation Army guerrilla group. It has not publicly released evidence supporting those claims. US Navy warships and personnel were deployed to the Caribbean in mid-August. On 2 September, President Donald Trump announced that a Venezuelan vessel had been struck by US forces, killing all eleven people aboard. Footage of that incident was released by the White House, though Venezuelan sources said the strike occurred a day earlier.

Since then, the campaign has intensified. As of 15 December, at least 95 people have been killed in at least 25 strikes on 26 vessels, according to publicly available reporting. The strikes have drawn sharp criticism from human rights organisations, legal experts and international bodies, who argue the killings are unlawful under both US and international law. The governments of Colombia and Venezuela have accused the US of carrying out extrajudicial executions.

The operations have also unfolded amid growing tensions between Washington and Caracas. Venezuelan opposition figures, Trump administration sources and independent analysts have suggested the campaign may be linked to broader efforts to increase pressure on President Nicolás Maduro. Attempts in the US Senate to restrict the president’s authority to continue military action against Venezuela or maritime airstrikes have twice failed, leaving the administration free to continue the campaign.