US strikes 2 more boats in the Pacific Ocean, killing 5

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

(CNN) — The US military conducted strikes against two alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing 5 people, according to US Southern Command.

At least 104 people have now been killed in US strikes on alleged drug boats, and Thursday’s attack marks the third this week.

“On Dec. 18, at the direction of @SecWarPete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X, adding that no US service members were harmed in the strikes.

On Monday, the US killed 8 people in strikes on three alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific, and the US killed 4 people in a strike on a single boat on Wednesday.

The strikes on suspected drug boats are part of an ongoing campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.

The US has increased its military action in South America in recent months, focused on Venezuela, a nation that President Donald Trump has accused of stealing US “oil, land and other assets.”

The administration has moved thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean, and Trump on Tuesday ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded to Trump on Wednesday, accusing the US of seeking regime change along with ownership of Venezuela’s territory and resources.

“It is simply a warmongering and colonialist pretense, and we have said so many times, and now everyone sees the truth. The truth has been revealed,” Maduro said in Caracas.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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