The United States has now killed more than 100 people in a series of strikes targeting vessels it says are tied to drug trafficking, following the latest attacks in the Eastern Pacific.
In a social media post, U.S. Southern Command said the strikes occurred on December 18 “at the direction of U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.”
“Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” the command wrote. It added that intelligence indicated the boats were traveling along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
According to the statement, “a total of five male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions — three in the first vessel and two in the second vessel,” and no U.S. forces were harmed.
The latest strikes come as the U.S. has increased the tempo of operations in the region. Southern Command’s update follows another strike the day before, when U.S. forces killed four people during an operation in the Eastern Pacific.
The Trump administration has told Congress it considers itself to be in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has described those killed as “unlawful combatants,” citing a classified Justice Department finding that it says allows lethal action without judicial review, as CNN explains.
The campaign has drawn criticism from legal experts and some lawmakers, particularly after a follow-up strike on Sept. 2 that killed two survivors of an initial attack. Several experts have argued that the second strike could amount to an extrajudicial killing under international law. Hegseth has rejected calls to declassify and publicly release footage of the incident.
Some Republicans have also voiced opposition. Sen. Rand Paul has joined Democrats in introducing measures aimed at requiring President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval if the administration wants to escalate further.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Paul criticized the broader campaign and pushed back on the administration’s goal of ousting Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro: “We have never decided to just shoot unarmed smugglers without proof. It’s horrendous. It’s illegal. It’s immoral… I’m not sending American kids to die for oil.”
