US military kills 2 in Eastern Pacific cartel strike, SOUTHCOM says

The U.S. military carried out another lethal strike targeting suspected cartel operatives in the Eastern Pacific on Monday, killing two individuals believed to be involved in narcotics trafficking, according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

“Applying total systemic friction on the cartels,” SOUTHCOM said in a post on X. “On April 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 narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post continued. “Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed.”

The strike comes two days after SOUTHCOM conducted similar operations against two other suspected vessels operated by designated groups.

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Officials said intelligence confirmed those vessels were traveling along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were actively engaged in narcotics operations.

Two men were killed in the first strike and three in the second, while one individual survived the initial attack.

SOUTHCOM said it immediately called on the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct search and rescue operations for the lone survivor. No U.S. forces were injured in either operation.

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The operations are part of a broader U.S. military effort to disrupt cartel-linked trafficking networks at sea, with officials increasingly describing such groups using terrorism-related designations.

The strikes were carried out under Joint Task Force Southern Spear, an ongoing mission focused on targeting transnational criminal organizations operating along key maritime drug routes in the region.

The Eastern Pacific remains a major corridor for narcotics trafficking, where cartels frequently rely on small, fast-moving vessels to transport drugs north toward the U.S. and Central America.

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The use of the term “Designated Terrorist Organizations” reflects a more aggressive posture by the Trump administration, which has expanded the use of military force against suspected narcotics traffickers beyond traditional law enforcement approaches.

SOUTHCOM has not released additional details about the identities of those killed or the specific groups involved.

The command is responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including counter-narcotics missions aimed at disrupting drug trafficking networks that threaten U.S. interests.

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The U.S. has carried out dozens of strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in recent months as part of a broader campaign to dismantle cartel-linked trafficking operations and increase pressure on transnational criminal organizations.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.