US kills 3 aboard suspected drug-smuggling vessel in Caribbean

The US military killed three people Wednesday in a strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said.

The command said Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out the strike on a speedboat operating along “established narco-trafficking routes.”

“Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking,” SOUTHCOM said, describing the three people killed as “narco-terrorists.”

Since last September, the US has regularly carried out strikes on vessels it alleges were involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as part of what it describes as ongoing counternarcotics initiatives.

With the latest strike, the US military has disclosed at least 69 such operations that have killed at least 205 people, according to figures compiled by Military Times and Anadolu.