Thursday’s strike marked the 65th known attack by Joint Task Force Southern Spear on suspected drug-trafficking vessels since early September 2025. As with previous strikes, U.S. Southern Command released limited details. In a statement, SOUTHCOM said “intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” A black-and-white aerial video released by the military shows a boat speeding across the water before erupting into smoke and flames, with debris floating on the ocean surface.
The Trump administration alleged, without providing proof, that the boat was operated by one of the 15 cartels and gangs that have been designated as terrorist organizations since the administration designated the first batch of eight in February 2025. The most recent designations were made earlier this month. Trump has defended the strikes by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with the organizations, and his administration has cited the terrorist designations as part of its legal rationale for using military force.
Thursday’s strike drew immediate condemnation from Ben Saul, the U.N. special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, who issued a social media statement calling it an extrajudicial killing. “I condemn the US military’s extrajudicial killing of three civilians at sea on 18 June, taking total US murders to at least 211 people since Sept 2025,” Saul wrote. “I call on States to break their silence and jointly denounce these murders.” In March, Saul released a report stating the strikes were unlawful serial extrajudicial killings that “gravely” violate the right to life, criticizing the Trump administration’s justification as “its phony war on so-called narco-terrorism.”
The strikes have also drawn increasing scrutiny from Congress. The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday advanced its fiscal year 2027 defense bill, which would require Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit unredacted investigations and supporting documents related to SOUTHCOM operations to relevant House and Senate committees. The bill also directs Hegseth to provide “unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations.” Failure to comply could result in Hegseth’s travel funding being withheld until the materials are submitted.
Democratic lawmakers have been demanding more information on the strikes since the campaign began on Sept. 2, when the first known attack allegedly included a follow-up strike that killed two survivors after the first strike disabled the vessel. Lawmakers have said that, if true, this alleged second strike could amount to a law-of-war violation. A bill put forward by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to require the Trump administration to release the video of the Sept. 2 strikes was blocked by Republicans, who control the Senate, late last year.
Human rights groups have criticized the operations as extrajudicial killings conducted without charges, trial or judicial review. In late April, 125 human and civil rights organizations issued an open call to end the attacks, arguing the effects of the deaths are having ramifications throughout the region. “Families awaiting the return of their loved ones may never know what happened to them and have no access to recourse,” the call-to-action said. “Coastal communities have witnessed human remains washing up on shore and fear for their lives when they trade and fish, sowing psychological trauma and undermining livelihoods.”
Annie Shiel, the U.S. director of the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said in a statement earlier this month: “It is unconscionable that these strikes have now taken the lives of over 200 civilians with impunity. We are witnessing an unacceptable normalization of this lawless campaign, and with it the Trump administration’s claim that it can execute anyone accused of a crime without any due process.”