Donald Trump has said the US is in 'armed conflict' with cartels in Latin America.
07:45, Sun, Feb 15, 2026 Updated: 07:48, Sun, Feb 15, 2026
There was a huge explosion after the missile strike (Image: @U.S. Southern Command/X)
This is the moment US forces struck another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean Sea. The American military said “three narco-terrorists” were killed in the action, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to 133 people since early September.
More than 38 attacks have been carried out in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific despite legality concerns. Footage of the latest strike on Friday shows a boat moving through choppy waters, before being hit by a missile and sparking a huge explosion. A fire can be seen ripped through the vessel at the end of the 11-second clip.
On Feb. 13, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/y50Pbtexfi
Announcing the attack, US Southern Command said it had carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel “operated by Designated Terrorist Organisations”.
It continued: “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
“Three narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”
The alleged drug-trafficking boat moments before it was struck (Image: @U.S. Southern Command/X)
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last week declared that “some top cartel drug-traffickers” in the region “have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean”.
However, he did not provide any details or information to back up this claim, made in a post on his personal account on social media.
Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs.
But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narco-terrorists.”
Critics have aired concerns over the legality of the US’ deadly strikes in international waters.
Analysis by the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America, according to The Sun, read: “Those being killed by US military strikes at sea are denied any due process whatsoever, their lives ended by missile attacks carried out at the orders of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, or the Southcom commander, with no basis under either US or international law.
“They are asserting and exercising an apparently unlimited license to kill people that the president deems to be terrorists.”
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It said involvement in drug smuggling is “not a capital offense under US or international law”, meaning there is “much less justification for extrajudicial execution”.
It added US officials have not provided evidence that those targeted were transporting illegal drugs.
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