{"id":2570748,"date":"2026-02-17T15:46:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-conducts-three-lethal-strikes-on-narco-terror-drug-vessels-killing-11\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:48:09","slug":"pentagon-conducts-three-lethal-strikes-on-narco-terror-drug-vessels-killing-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-conducts-three-lethal-strikes-on-narco-terror-drug-vessels-killing-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Conducts Three Lethal Strikes on Narco-Terror Drug Vessels, Killing 11"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpentagon-conducts-three-lethal-strikes-on-narco-terror-drug-vessels-killing-11%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2570748&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>&#8211; U.S. Southern Command said three <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >vessels carrying illegal drugs<\/a> were sunk in three lethal strikes on February 16, carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear under Gen. Francis L. Donovan.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; the targets were vessels operated by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/can-she-ever-fly-the-flag-maybe-just-once-for-us-bill-hemmer-katie-pavlich-call-out-ilhan-omar-over-extreme-comments\/\" title=\"\u2018Can She Ever Fly The Flag Maybe Just Once For Us?\u2019: Bill Hemmer, Katie Pavlich Call Out Ilhan Omar Over \u2018Extreme\u2019 Comments\">designated terrorist organizations<\/a>, described as transiting known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/late-breaking-video-trump-takes-out-big-batch-of-narco-terrorists-in-highly-effective-3-boat-strike\/\" title=\"Late Breaking Video: Trump Takes Out Big Batch of Narco Terrorists in Highly Effective 3...Boat Strike\">narco-trafficking routes<\/a> in the Eastern pacific adn the Caribbean; the attacks were shown in video posted by SOUTHCOM.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Eleven male narco-terrorists were reported killed across the three vessels, with no U.S. military personnel harmed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Since the campaign began, U.S. forces have conducted at least 41 strikes on various vessels, and, according to Fox News, at least 144 people have been killed in the attacks.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; A celebratory post from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on X referenced President Trump and argued that narco-terrorists are the \u201cal-Qaida of our hemisphere,\u201d vowing decisive action to defend the nation and oppose drug trafficking.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Hegseth\u2019s remarks, including earlier December comments about policy to attack the drug trade and secure borders, frame the effort as a broad hemispheric campaign against narcotics networks and narco-terrorists.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Three vessels carrying illegal drugs were sunk Monday as America&rsquo;s hunt against drug dealers wages without stopping, according to U.S. Southern Command.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/SOUTHCOM?src=hashtag_click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#SOUTHCOM<\/a> commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-announces-two-more-strikes-on-suspected-drug-boats-in-operation-southern-spear\/\" title=\"US announces two more strikes on suspected drug boats in Operation Southern Spear\">lethal kinetic strikes<\/a> on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,&rdquo; Southern Command <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Southcom\/status\/2023791027383890240\">posted<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,&rdquo; the post, which showed video of the attacks, said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Late on Feb. 16, at the direction of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SOUTHCOM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SOUTHCOM<\/a> commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mib9XtptSB\">pic.twitter.com\/mib9XtptSB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Southcom\/status\/2023791027383890240?\">February 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Eleven male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions, 4 on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, 4 on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and 3 on the third vessel in the Caribbean. No U.S. military forces were harmed,&rdquo; the post added.<\/p>\n<p>Since the start of the campaign against drug-running boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. forces made at least 41 strikes on various vessels, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/us-kills-11-3-strikes-alleged-drug-running-boats\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At least 144 people have been killed in the attacks.<\/p>\n<p>The latest attack brought a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/petehegseth\/status\/2023810666004668441?s=46&amp;t=op3KnRWayVQwe0Xuza3lqQ\">celebratory post<\/a> from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Turns out President&rsquo;s Day &mdash; under President Trump &mdash; is not a good day to run drugs,&rdquo; Hegseth posted.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Turns out President&rsquo;s Day &mdash; under President Trump &mdash; is not a good day to run drugs. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8c5wMmQbQ2\">https:\/\/t.co\/8c5wMmQbQ2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/2023810666004668441?\">February 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In December, Hegseth said the policy is intended to attack the drug trade.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you. Let there be no doubt about it,&rdquo; Hegseth said according to a text on the department&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/Speeches\/Speech\/Article\/4354431\/remarks-by-secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-at-the-reagan-national-defense-forum-a\/\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Trump can and will take decisive military action as he sees fit to defend our nation&rsquo;s interests. Let no country on Earth doubt that for a moment,&rdquo; Hegseth continued.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth also noted in the speech, &ldquo;Our borders shouldn&rsquo;t be the first line of defense for the American homeland. They should be the last line of defense. And that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re prioritizing our fight against cartels throughout the Western Hemisphere. You can just look at the news, not all of the news.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaida of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaida. We are tracking them, we are killing them, and we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they&rsquo;re tantamount to chemical weapons,&rdquo; Hegseth continued.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth said America wants alliances, but added, &ldquo;Where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a concise paraphrase of the content:<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, three vessels carrying illegal drugs were sunk as part of the U.S. effort against drug traffickers, according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). Late on February 16, following orders from SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear carried out three lethal strikes against vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations. Intelligence indicated the ships were on well-known narco-trafficking routes and involved in trafficking. A SOUTHCOM post on X included video of the attacks.<\/p>\n<p>The post also stated that eleven male narco-terrorists were killed in these actions\u2014four on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, four on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and three on the third vessel in the Caribbean. No U.S. military personnel were harmed. Since the campaign began in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific, U.S. forces have conducted at least 41 strikes on various vessels, resulting in at least 144 deaths, according to Fox News. The latest attack drew a celebratory post from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n<p>In December, Hegseth described the policy as aimed at attacking the drug trade. He said that if someone works for a designated terrorist organization and brings drugs to the U.S. by boat, they will be found and sunk. He asserted that President Trump would take decisive military action to defend national interests and that borders should be the last line of defense, with a focus on fighting cartels throughout the Western Hemisphere. He compared narco-terrorists to the hemisphere\u2019s al-Qaida, saying the U.S. is tracking and killing them so long as they poison people with deadly narcotics, and emphasized that the U.S. would act decisively when allies cannot or will not contribute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2570749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-02-17T140253.442.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[73971,73970,73969,3761],"class_list":["post-2570748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-drug-vessels","tag-military-strikes-2","tag-narco-terror","tag-pentagon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-02-17T140253.442.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2570748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570752,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570748\/revisions\/2570752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2570749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2570748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2570748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2570748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}