Authored by Austin Campbell via Task & Purpose,
The U.S. military killed five people Tuesday aboard what Southern Command described as a "go-fast vessel" associated with "narco-terrorists" in the eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing the death toll from its campaign against suspected drug traffickers to at least 240 since September 2025.
U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out the Oct. 27 strike against a speedboat traveling along known drug-trafficking routes.
The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel's involvement in narcotics trafficking but did not publicly provide evidence supporting that assessment, with the majority of these killings occurring at sea.
Video released by U.S. Southern Command on X appears to show the vessel sitting nearly motionless in the water before a large explosion engulfs it. The footage does not establish whether the vessel was anchored or disabled.
On October 27, under the direction of #SOUTHCOM, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal, kinetic strike on a go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific. Confirmed intelligence revealed the ve
