A sweeping US military campaign aimed at stopping narcotics from entering the country has killed 87 people and destroyed 23 vessels since early September, according to figures reported by CNN. Ordered by President Donald Trump, the operations span the Caribbean and the Pacific and have expanded rapidly in scope.
But the campaign has also triggered sharp debate over its legality, transparency, and the standards governing lethal force at sea.
In letters to Congress, the Trump administration has said the US is now in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, invoking a classified Justice Department finding to label alleged traffickers as “unlawful combatants”.
That designation has allowed the military to carry out lethal strikes without judicial review, CNN reported.
Lawmakers and human rights groups argue the administration has provided little public evidence that the targeted boats were carrying narcotics or had confirmed links to cartels.
Below is a consolidated timeline of the 23 strikes, based on news reports and the official statements from the White House, Pentagon, and US Southern Command.
The opening phase: September
The operation began on September 2, when a US missile hit a vessel in the Caribbean. Trump publicly celebrated the attack, calling the targets “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” and warning other smugglers to “BEWARE!”
The military then carried out a second, undisclosed strike on the same vessel after detecting survivors, a “double tap” that ultimately killed 11 people, CNN reported. Officials told the news outlet that they worried the second strike could violate the laws of armed conflict if those onboard were already incapacitated.
Two more strikes followed on September 15 and 19, killing three people in each incident. Trump claimed the boats were linked to drug trafficking, while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced the attacks as “serial executions”.
Escalation near Venezuela: October
The tempo increased significantly in October:
- October 3: Four killed in international waters.
- October 14: Six killed near Venezuela.
- October 16: Two survivors were pulled from the water and briefly held by the US Navy before being returned to Ecuador and Colombia; both arrived in fragile condition, reports said.
- October 17: Three killed on a boat U.S. officials said was tied to a Colombian terrorist group. Colombia’s president condemned the strike, saying an innocent citizen had been killed.
On October 21 and 22, the campaign expanded to the Pacific for the first time, with strikes killing two and three people respectively. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the broader reach ensured “narco-terrorists… will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere.”
The most intense day came on October 27, when three missiles struck four boats, killing 14 people. One man survived but was never recovered; the Mexican Navy later presumed him dead, CNN reported.
Other late-October strikes included six killed on October 24 and four more killed in a Pacific attack on October 29.
Strikes continue into November
The operations went on at a rapid pace:
- November 1: Three killed (Caribbean)
- November 4: Two killed (Eastern Pacific)
- November 6: Three killed (Caribbean)
- November 9: Two Pacific strikes killing six
- November 10: Four killed (Caribbean)
- November 15: Three killed (Eastern Pacific)
The latest strike: December
The most recent attack on December 4 killed four crew members in the Eastern Pacific.
US Southern Command released a video of the strike, saying the boat was operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization” under Operation Southern Spear.
While the administration insists the campaign is critical to preventing drugs from reaching US shores, officials have yet to provide conclusive public evidence linking many targeted vessels to narcotics or confirming cartel affiliations.
