{"id":25373,"date":"2026-02-24T19:02:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T19:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=25373"},"modified":"2026-02-24T19:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T19:02:23","slug":"u-s-military-kills-3-in-caribbean-drug-boat-strike-death-toll-reaches-151-in-anti-narcoterror-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=25373","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Military Kills 3 In Caribbean Drug Boat Strike, Death Toll Reaches 151 In Anti-Narcoterror Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    U.S. Military Kills 3 In Caribbean Drug Boat Strike, Death Toll Reaches 151 In Anti-Narcoterror Campaign<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"U.S. Military Kills 3 In Caribbean Drug Boat Strike, Death Toll Reaches 151 In Anti-Narcoterror Campaign\" style=\"float: left; margin-right: 5px;\" link_thumbnail=\"\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-96x96.jpg 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1885260\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1885260\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1885260\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5.jpg?resize=1200%2C628\" alt=\"boat strike\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/boat-strike-5-150x79.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1885260\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screengrab from X video posted by US Southern Command<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The U.S. military said it killed three people on Monday, February 23, after striking an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea.<\/p>\n<p>The operation is part of a months-long campaign targeting what the Trump administration describes as \u201cnarcoterrorists\u201d operating along maritime trafficking routes.<\/p>\n<p>The total number of people killed in more than 40 known strikes since early September has reached at least 151, according to official figures.<\/p>\n<p>According to United States Southern Command, the vessel was operating along what it described as established narco-trafficking corridors in the Caribbean Sea.<\/p>\n<p>The military stated that intelligence confirmed the small boat was engaged in drug-trafficking operations.<\/p>\n<p>A video posted on X showed a fast-moving vessel fitted with outboard engines being destroyed at sea.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">On Feb. 23, 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 a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XUHImPAZik\">pic.twitter.com\/XUHImPAZik<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Southcom\/status\/2026006115428016257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Officials did not release evidence indicating whether narcotics were found on board. Southern Command reported that three male suspects were killed during the strike.<\/p>\n<p>The strike is part of a maritime security campaign launched in early September. Since then, U.S. forces have carried out more than 40 strikes targeting small vessels described as drug-smuggling boats.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump has described the campaign as an \u201carmed conflict\u201d with Latin American cartels.<\/p>\n<p>The administration has framed the maritime strikes as a necessary escalation aimed at reducing the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.<\/p>\n<p>However, officials have released limited public evidence supporting claims that those targeted were actively transporting narcotics at the time of the strikes.<\/p>\n<p>Critics have questioned both the legality of conducting lethal strikes in international waters and the effectiveness of targeting small vessels at sea.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts note that fentanyl, which is linked to many fatal overdoses in the United States, is typically trafficked over land routes from Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>It is manufactured using precursor chemicals sourced from China and India, rather than transported in large quantities via Caribbean maritime corridors.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign also faced controversy after reports emerged that survivors from the first boat strike were killed in a follow-up attack.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters of the administration defended the action as lawful under the declared anti-cartel operations, while opponents argued it could violate international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n<p>The Caribbean Sea is one of the world\u2019s most active maritime transit regions. It connects the Gulf of Mexico, the Panama Canal, and major Atlantic shipping lanes.<\/p>\n<p><em>References: AP News, Business Standard<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    MI News Network<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/shipping-news\/u-s-military-kills-3-in-caribbean-drug-boat-strike-death-toll-reaches-151-in-anti-narcoterror-campaign\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=u-s-military-kills-3-in-caribbean-drug-boat-strike-death-toll-reaches-151-in-anti-narcoterror-campaign\">Go to marine insight<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Military Kills 3 In Caribbean Drug Boat Strike, Death Toll Reaches 151 In Anti-Narcoterror Campaign Screengrab from X video posted by US Southern Command The U.S. military said it killed three people on Monday, February 23, after striking an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea. The operation is part of a months-long campaign [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,196],"tags":[197],"class_list":["post-25373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marine-insight","category-shipping-news","tag-marine-insight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}