Happy New Year: Pentagon Ends 2025 with a Bang, Hits Narco-Terrorists Whose Drugs Will Not Kill Americans This Year
The article reports that, as early September, the Trump administration has ordered U.S. forces to strike drug-smuggling vessels in the caribbean and Pacific to stop deadly narcotics from reaching the United States amid a long-running overdose crisis. U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear carried out multiple “kinetic” strikes on Dec. 30-31 against vessels tied to designated terrorist organizations that were transiting known narco‑trafficking routes and transferring drugs; those engagements killed several suspected traffickers and resulted in ships being sunk. Southern Command and Pentagon officials framed the operations as lawful, conducted to protect the homeland and U.S. national interests, and said they coordinated search-and-rescue notifications wiht the U.S. Coast Guard. Media tallies cited in the piece put the campaign’s toll at dozens of strikes and more than 100 fatalities to date.
The old year went out with a bang for American forces waging war on drug shipments that could target Americans.
Since early September, the Trump administration has attacked drug-running ships in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, coming at a time when an estimated 1.25 million Americans have died from drug overdoses since 1999.
As noted by NPR, White House representative Anna Kelly has said that “any boat bringing deadly poison to our shores has the potential to kill 25,000 Americans or more.”
As the year ended, America’s forces were vigilant, U.S. Southern Command noted.
On Dec. 31, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and… pic.twitter.com/4AE5u4cEff
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) January 1, 2026
“On Dec. 31, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” U.S. Southern Command posted on social media platform X.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in narco-trafficking,” the post said.
“A total of five narco-terrorists were killed during these actions — three in the first vessel and two in the second,” the post said.
Wednesday’s strikes brought the two-day total to five strikes, according to Southern Command.
“On Dec. 30, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted kinetic strikes against three narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy,” Southern Command posted on X.
On Dec. 30, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted kinetic strikes against three narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy. These vessels were operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence… pic.twitter.com/NHRNIzcrFS
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 31, 2025
“These vessels were operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes,” the post said.
“Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels,” the post said.
“Following the engagements, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified @USCG to activate the Search and Rescue system,” the post said.
According to ABC News, 34 strikes to date have killed 115 people.
“Each strike conducted against these designated terror organizations is taken in defense of vital U.S. national interests and to protect the homeland,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said last month, according to the Department of War.
“Our operations in the Southcom region are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict. These actions have also been approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the goal of the mission is to protect Americans.
“This department will defend our homeland. This is not a catchphrase; it’s a commitment,” she said. “And, as [Hegseth] said: When it comes to killing narco-terrorists, we have only just begun.”
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