The U.S. military killed two suspected drug traffickers Sunday in the latest Operation Southern Spear airstrike — the third deadly strike in a single week.
Six male survivors were pulled from the Caribbean Sea after the attack, according to Southern Command.
“On June 21, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two male narco-terrorists were killed during this action, and there were six male survivors.”
U.S. intelligence confirmed the vessel was traveling known drug trafficking routes and actively engaged in narcotics operations when it was hit.
After the strike, the U.S. Coast Guard deployed personnel to conduct search and recovery for the survivors.
The Sunday attack marks the fourth lethal strike in June alone. Two other operations last week — one on June 16, another on June 18 — killed three additional suspected narco-terrorists. Southern Command reported two survivors from the June 16 strike.
An earlier June 3 strike left two more dead.
Since Operation Southern Spear began, 65 strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Southern Hemisphere have killed 211 people, according to a New York Times tracker.
