The two strikes came on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31.
It’s the latest in a wave of strikes in recent months against drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, part of Operation Southern Spear. In the Tuesday strike, SOUTHCOM said the three vessels were operated by designated terrorist organizations, acting as a convoy along known trafficking routes in international waters.
To date, the death toll from such strikes targeting narco-traffickers is at least 110 since September.
The U.S. said intelligence had confirmed that narcotics had been transferred between the three vessels. After SOUTHCOM struck the first one Tuesday, killing three men, the remaining narco-terrorists jumped overboard and swam away from their boats. Subsequent strikes sank the remaining two vessels, the agency said.
A video posted along with SOUTHCOM’s announcement shows three boats traveling together before the first one is attacked. The rest of the video shows airstrikes on the other two vessels.
After the attack, SOUTHCOM said it notified the U.S. Coast Guard to launch search and rescue for the men who abandoned ship.
The administration has also built up American military forces in the region, escalating pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been accused of narcoterrorism by the United States, and his regime. Maduro has denied these claims.
“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said Monday during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Mar-a-Lago.
“We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area ... it’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement, and that is no longer around.”
Trump also began imposing sanctions on oil tankers coming to and departing from Venezuela, seizing two ships earlier this month. On Wednesday, the United States announced more sanctions on four more companies and oil tankers accused of having ties to the South American country.
