US military strikes 3 more boats in the Pacific Ocean, killing 8
- - US military strikes 3 more boats in the Pacific Ocean, killing 8
Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNNDecember 16, 2025 at 5:05 AM
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The US Southern Command released new video showing "strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters," at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, on December 15. - US Southern Command
The US military conducted strikes against three alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing 8 people, according to US Southern Command.
“On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking.”
At least 95 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking. The US military most recently struck a suspected drug boat on December 4 in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to another social media post from US Southern Command.
The latest strikes come as questions about the Trump administration’s offensive on the alleged drug boats continue to mount.
The Trump administration has told Congress that the US is in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels that began with its first attack on September 2. The US militar y carried out a follow-up strike on the suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean that day, after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board, CNN previously reported, which some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said could amount to a war crime.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said Monday there will be an all-senators briefing Tuesday on the strikes, featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“The American people deserve oversight. We intend to deliver it,” he said in a post on X.
Rubio and Hegseth are also expected to provide a classified briefing for House lawmakers Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the plans.
The administration has labeled those killed “unlawful combatants” and claimed the ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding.
The strikes are part of a monthslong pressure campaign on Venezuela that has included moving thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean and repeated threats against President Nicolas Maduro.
Last week, the US announced new sanctions on shipping companies and boats it says help move Venezuelan oil, a day after it seized a sanctioned tanker off the country’s coast.
This story has been with additional details.
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