- The operation targeted a vessel on a smuggling route in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
- Since September, the US has attacked 23 vessels suspected of smuggling.
- According to human rights organizations, these attacks can be considered illegal.
At least four people have been killed in another attack by the United States on a ship suspected of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean. On Thursday, the Southern Command of the US Armed Forces (SOUTHCOM) informed about it, writes TASR according to the AFP agency and CNN television.
“Operation Southern Spear conducted a deadly kinetic attack on a vessel in international waters operated by a terrorist organization. Intelligence services have confirmed that the ship was carrying illegal drugs and was sailing along a known smuggling route in the eastern Pacific Ocean,” said SOUTHCOM on the X platform.
“Four men, terrorists and drug dealers on board the ship, were killed,” the command added. It also posted a 21-second video of a fast-moving multi-engine ship engulfed in flames after the explosion.
The United States has been conducting attacks on ships allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean since September. According to CNN, at least 87 people have died so far in attacks on 23 such vessels.
Washington has still not released evidence that these vessels were used for drug smuggling. According to human rights organizations, the US attacks would be illegal even if they were really drug traffickers. President Donald Trump’s administration has also repeatedly attacked the Venezuelan government, accusing the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, of involvement in the drug trade. Maduro rejects these claims.
