The U.S. military said it destroyed an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Thursday, killing four men described as narco-terrorists, in the latest lethal strike drawing scrutiny from lawmakers pressing the Trump administration for details on a widening anti-drug campaign at sea.
U.S. Southern Command said the vessel was operating in international waters and run by a designated terrorist organization, although officials did not identify the group.
"On Dec. 4, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization," U.S. Southern Command wrote on a post on X.
The boat was transiting along what the command called a known narco trafficking route, and military officials released a 21-second video showing the craft engulfed in fire after the strike.
The strike occurred the same day Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, commander of Joint Special Operations Command, briefed lawmakers in both chambers on the administration's Sept. 2 operation in the Caribbean, where eleven people were killed.
That earlier mission involved four separate strikes, two that killed those aboard and two that sank the vessel.
Members of Congress have asked for more documentation about the legal authority and operational decision-making behind the mission.
According to Reuters, lawmakers have formally asked the Pentagon to turn over the full "execute order" (EXORD) that authorized the Sept. 2 strikes, not just the two-page summary previously shared.
On Thursday, Bradley denied reports that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered forces to kill everybody on board before the Sept. 2 strike.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters after the classified briefing that Bradley "was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all. He was given an order that, of course, was written down in great detail."
Since early September, the United States has carried out more than 20 strikes on suspected drug boats across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 87 people, according to administration officials.
Critics in both parties are questioning rules of engagement, intelligence thresholds, and civilian protection standards.
Lawmakers including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, have stated that killing shipwrecked or incapacitated individuals is a war crime, regardless of the conflict's nature.
Thursday's strike marked the first U.S. attack on a suspected drug vessel since mid-November, when a similar operation in the eastern Pacific killed three men described by the military as narco-terrorists.
Some lawmakers have signaled interest in reviewing how the administration defines terrorist affiliated drug networks and what intelligence criteria must be met before employing lethal force in international waters.
Administration officials maintain that the campaign is targeting armed trafficking cells tied to designated organizations and that each strike is vetted for intelligence sufficiency.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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