The Trump administration this week ordered lethal strikes against vessels it said were engaged in narco-trafficking, killing 11 suspected narco-terrorists in three operations across the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear carried out the strikes at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the unit's commander, and said no U.S. forces were harmed.

In a statement posted on social media, SOUTHCOM said intelligence confirmed the vessels were "transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations," but it did not release supporting evidence or identify any specific drug loads.

"Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," SOUTHCOM wrote in a statement. 

"Eleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean.

"No U.S. military forces were harmed."

The strikes were the latest in Operation Southern Spear, a maritime campaign the Pentagon has described as targeting "Designated Terrorist Organizations" involved in drug trafficking, with U.S. forces increasingly using air and maritime force instead of attempting interdictions and arrests.

The operations began in early September and have unfolded in international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, where the U.S. military has long supported counterdrug surveillance and joint interdictions with the U.S. Coast Guard and regional governments.

Tuesday’s deaths raised the reported toll, with independent tallies and recent reports indicating at least 144 people have been killed in at least 41 strikes since the campaign began, even as U.S. officials say the targets are criminal networks operating outside the law.

The Trump administration has defended the strikes as necessary to disrupt narcotics flows and cartel operations, and senior officials, including War Secretary Pete Hegseth, have argued that the campaign has deterred trafficking, though they have not provided case-by-case documentation.

President Donald Trump has also framed the effort as part of a broader confrontation with Latin American cartels, an argument the administration has used to justify a more forceful posture in the region than prior counterdrug approaches.

Human rights groups and some international legal experts have criticized the strikes as potentially unlawful killings in international waters, arguing that using lethal force against suspected smugglers without judicial oversight or transparent evidentiary standards risks violating international law.

Some members of Congress have pressed the administration for clearer legal authorities, more public accounting of target selection, and details on how the government determines a vessel is tied to a "Designated Terrorist Organization," as well as what safeguards exist to prevent civilian deaths.

SOUTHCOM has said its actions are lawful and tied to U.S. national interests, but it has largely limited public descriptions to short statements and videos rather than detailed after-action reports that would allow independent verification of claims about trafficking or terrorist links.

Donovan assumed command of SOUTHCOM this month, and Tuesday's strikes came amid heightened scrutiny of the campaign's pace and the administration's decision to treat maritime drug smuggling networks as terrorist threats subject to lethal military force.

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