On Dec. 30, at the direction of Secretary of war 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 confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes.
Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. Eight narco-terrorists from the remaining two vessels, four in each, abandoned their vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels.
Following those engagements, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified the United States Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system. The active search was suspended without recovery.