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U.S. Southern Command disclosed that on December 22, 2025, Joint Task Force Southern Spear carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel in the eastern Pacific that was operating along known narcotics trafficking routes, confirming one male narco-terrorist killed and no U.S. forces harmed. The action, ordered at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, was part of the larger Operation Southern Spear aimed at dismantling narco-terrorist networks that export death to American streets. Americans deserve to know when our military acts to protect the homeland from the fentanyl pipeline, and this decisive strike shows leaders are finally treating drug cartels as the national-security threat they are.
This strike is the latest episode in a sustained campaign that has seen dozens of kinetic actions against suspected trafficker vessels since September, with reporting putting the casualty count past 100 individuals allegedly tied to narcotics operations. Critics will try to frame numbers and fog as evidence of wrongdoing, but the fact remains that U.S. forces have repeatedly targeted ships moving on established smuggling routes that directly feed the overdose crisis crippling our communities. If the cost of halting fentanyl coming into our country is confronting narco-terrorists at sea, then that is a cost this country must be willing to pay.
Pentagon and SOUTHCOM officials insist these operations are lawful, carefully vetted, and conducted in international waters against entities designated as terrorist organizations tied to the illicit drug trade. The department has stated that each strike is taken in defense of vital U.S. national interests and to protect Americans at home, repeating that the operations comply with the law of armed conflict. Conservatives who have long argued that Washington must stop treating drug enforcement like a purely domestic policing problem should welcome a posture that defends the homeland proactively instead of waiting for death tolls to rise.
There is pushback from some lawmakers, human rights groups, and left-leaning outlets demanding transparency and even alleging unlawful conduct, and Congress has pressed the Pentagon to release footage of past strikes as part of its oversight. Oversight is appropriate in a constitutional republic, but it must not be weaponized into paralysis that prevents commanders from striking when credible intelligence shows a clear threat to American lives. The right balance is to support our troops and investigators while ensuring lawful, accountable use of force—not to allow hand-wringing to become cover for cartel impunity.
Make no mistake: these are not abstract operations in distant lands but direct actions against criminal networks whose product shows up in our cities and hometowns with deadly results. While opponents howl about optics, ordinary Americans are watching family members and neighbors die from fentanyl and expect their government to act, not posture. The administration and Congress should provide the military clear authorities and the resources to finish the job, while demanding appropriate after-action transparency that does not compromise sources, methods, or troop safety.
Patriots know that defending our country requires grit, clarity, and sometimes tough choices; letting criminal cartels use the sea as a highway to poison America is not an option. Support the men and women who take on this mission, press for sensible oversight, and demand that political rivals stop playing geopolitical games that embolden tyrants and traffickers alike. If Washington refuses to act, hardworking Americans will pay with more funerals and hollow promises; we must stand with a policy that protects lives, secures our borders, and holds narco-terrorists to account.
