U.S. Kills Three in Latest Caribbean Boat Strike
U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear struck a vessel on Feb. 13, killing three people, part of a campaign against suspected narco‑trafficking that has drawn legal and political scrutiny.
Overview
On Feb. 13, U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel that killed three people.
The strike is the latest action in a campaign that began in September 2025 targeting vessels along known narco‑trafficking routes and followed a Jan. 3, 2026 raid that captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have defended the strikes, while the Washington Office on Latin America and legal experts have called them extrajudicial and unlawful.
Reports and trackers put the campaign’s death toll at roughly 120 to 133 people in at least 37 to 39 attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Congressional and legal scrutiny of the strikes continues, with particular interest in earlier attacks including one on Sept. 2 and ongoing monitoring of Southern Spear operations.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources cast the strikes skeptically, emphasizing uncertainty and civilian cost: they repeatedly use qualifiers ("alleged," "accused"), foreground casualty counts and attack totals, highlight officials' unverified claims and absence of supporting evidence, and use contextual emphasis to present the narrative as contested rather than settled.
Sources (12)
FAQ
Joint Task Force Southern Spear is a U.S. military unit under U.S. Southern Command, created in October 2025 around II Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters, tasked with counter-narco-terrorist operations to disrupt narcotics trafficking by designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
On Feb. 13, 2026, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the Caribbean operated by designated terrorist organizations engaged in narco-trafficking, killing three narco-terrorists with no harm to U.S. forces.
The campaign, started in September 2025, has involved 37 to 39 attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in approximately 120 to 133 deaths, targeting vessels along narco-trafficking routes.
The Washington Office on Latin America and legal experts have called the strikes extrajudicial and unlawful, amid congressional and legal scrutiny, including interest in earlier attacks like the Sept. 2 incident.
History
4 sources