U.S. 20th Caribbean Drug Strike Kills Four, Total 80 Dead

The U.S. military conducted its 20th strike on a vessel suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea on Monday, killing four people on board, according to a Pentagon official speaking on condition of anonymity. The official confirmed the deaths on Friday, bringing the total fatalities from the campaign, which began in September, to 80.

The strike was authorized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and targeted a boat in international waters, as stated by U.S. Southern Command in a social media post. The command released video footage showing an aerial view of the vessel before it exploded in flames. Officials described the boat as involved in narcotics smuggling but provided no supporting evidence. Two additional strikes occurred the previous Sunday, killing six people on separate vessels, Hegseth announced on social media.

This latest action is part of an escalating U.S. military presence in the region, now formalized as Operation Southern Spear. Hegseth announced the operation on Thursday, stating it aims to "remove narcoterrorists from our Hemisphere and secure the U.S. from drugs." The effort involves nearly a dozen Navy ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R....