US military strikes drug-smuggling vessels in Caribbean, five dead

The United States military has killed at least five people in strikes on vessels it claims were involved in drug smuggling, while ordering the US Coast Guard to conduct a search for survivors.

The statement, issued by US Southern Command, did not specify the location of the attacks, though previous operations have occurred in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, Caliber.Az reports.

On Dec. 31, at the direction of @SecWar 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… pic.twitter.com/4AE5u4cEff

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 1, 2026

A video posted by the Southern Command shows the boats traveling in close formation. The military said the vessels were in a convoy along known narco-trafficking routes and “had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes,” although no evidence was provided to support this claim.

“Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement,” the statement said. “The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels.” The military later said a second strike killed two people.

The US Coast Guard was notified to “activate the Search and Rescue system” to locate potential survivors. The request comes amid scrutiny over a similar incident in September, when follow-up strikes killed survivors of a disabled vessel—a move criticized by Democratic lawmakers and legal experts, though defended by the Trump administration and some Republican officials as legal.

Eight people had abandoned their vessels and were being searched for in the Pacific. The Coast Guard deployed a C-130 aircraft and coordinated with vessels in the area.

Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out 33 known strikes on suspected smuggling boats, resulting in at least 112 deaths. Trump has defended the operations as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, framing them as part of an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

The operations are part of a broader pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the US accuses of supporting narco-terrorism. Caracas denies involvement in drug trafficking, alleging Washington seeks to topple Maduro to seize the country’s vast oil reserves.

On December 29, Trump said the US had “hit” an area in Venezuela where boats are loaded with drugs, marking the first known land operation targeting narcotics in the country. Officials clarified that the strike was not conducted by the military, and Trump has previously authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela.

By Vafa Guliyeva