Donald Trump ordered the US military to strike a suspected drug-smuggling boat bound for the United States, killing two alleged narco-terrorists on board.
US Southern Command announced that the airstrike, which took place Sunday, hit a ship ‘operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.’
‘Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking,’ the statement added. ‘This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels.’
Black-and-white footage released alongside the announcement captured the vessel cutting through the water moments before it was engulfed by a massive blast.
US officials did not specify what type of craft was targeted, though it resembled an elongated semi-submersible commonly used by cartel members and known as a ‘narco sub.’
The strike is the latest salvo in Trump’s war against Latin American drug cartels, launched last September under the military campaign dubbed Operation Southern Spear.
Trump has since ordered the Pentagon to carry out dozens of attacks, releasing videos showing more than 200 suspected smugglers being killed aboard vessels allegedly carrying drugs toward the US through the eastern Pacific and Caribbean.
Neither the president nor the US military has provided definitive proof that those killed in the strikes were involved in drug trafficking.
US Southern Commander said in a statement that the airstrike, which took place Sunday, hit a ship ‘operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific’
Black-and-white footage released alongside the announcement captured the vessel cutting through the water moments before it was engulfed by a massive blast
US officials did not specify what type of craft was targeted, though it resembled an elongated semi-submersible commonly used by cartel members and known as a ‘narco sub’
Trump has since ordered the Pentagon to carry out dozens of attacks, releasing videos showing more than 200 suspected smugglers being killed aboard vessels allegedly carrying drugs toward the US through the eastern Pacific and Caribbean
‘We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists — disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region,’ said US General Francis L. Donovan in a statement Monday.
