(CNN) — The US military said early Monday it struck an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, marking the first known strike in more than two months.
“Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a statement on X.
Two people were killed in the strike on Sunday, according to SOUTHCOM.
The strikes are believed to be the first since June 21. It was not clear why the strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific paused, as CNN has reported.
Prior to the pause, the US military had destroyed at least 67 vessels and killed at least 221 people since the “Operation Southern Spear” campaign began in September 2025, according to official announcements and CNN’s analysis of search and rescue efforts.
The administration has told Congress the US is in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels, labeling those killed “unlawful combatants” and claiming the ability to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review due to a classified Justice Department finding.
Some members of Congress as well as human rights groups have questioned that finding and argued that potential drug traffickers should face prosecution, as had been the policy of interdiction carried out by the US before President Donald Trump took office.
Law enforcement officials and experts have also expressed skepticism over the Trump administration’s strategy and its effectiveness at bringing meaningful change to the region’s drug trade.
In its statement Monday, SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan reiterated the US military’s commitment to combating the drug trade, saying: “We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists – disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region.”
“This operation is a powerful demonstration of our lethal precision, overwhelming capability, and absolute resolve to protect the U.S. homeland,” Donovan said in the post.
The official mission for Operation Southern Spear is classified, according to a May 20 report from the Pentagon’s inspector general office.
Earlier this month, Sen. Tim Kaine told the White House, following “a careful review” of classified information he has seen so far, that strikes have likely illegally killed “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking.”
The Virginia Democrat, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to “examine the circumstances of these strikes” and cease what he called an “illegal, costly and ineffective” operation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.