VIDEO: 4 killed as US forces strike drug-trafficking vessel in Caribbean

US NAVAL INSTITUTE: U.S. forces with Joint Task Force Operation Southern Spear struck a boat allegedly carrying illicit narcotics, U.S. Southern Command announced Wednesday.

The strike – on a boat in the Caribbean – killed four men. The total number of deaths from Operation Southern Spear is now 160 people in 47 strikes on alleged drug boats, including 10 people who initially survived but were presumed deceased after unsuccessful search and rescue operations, according to USNI News data.

The boat was allegedly operated by “designated terrorist organizations,” although a specific group was not named in the SOUTHCOM post on social media site X.

This is the third strike in March. A strike on March 20 in the Eastern Pacific left three survivors, but the U.S. Coast Guard has not provided an update on their status.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Ecuador Navy seized 592 kilos of cocaine Tuesday in international waters off of the coast of Ecuador, SOUTHCOM announced in a post on X.

The number of U.S. Navy warships in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility has shrunk as the U.S. turned its attention to Iran. USS Gettysburg (CG-64), an independently-deployed guided-missile cruiser returned home to Norfolk on Monday, USNI News previously reported.

As of Monday, the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group remained in SOUTHCOM, along with cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70) and destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG-106). It is unclear whether the U.S. will send another cruiser to replace Gettysburg.

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