On October 17, 2025, the United States military carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel allegedly affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional, reportedly killing three men described as “narco-terrorists”. While international and local news described the strikes as occurring in the Caribbean Sea, the location of the strike was described only as “in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility” and “in international waters” by the U.S military.

On October 19th, two days after the strike, @SecWar Pete Hegseth published on Twitter/X a statement announcing the strike on a vessel reportedly involved in “illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics”. In the video included in the post, a boat can be seen moving through the water until it erupts in an explosion and flames. Further angles and captures show clouds of smoke over the boat and flames.

An AP investigation published on November 7th mentioned three men who had reportedly disappeared “last month” at sea and were possibly killed by US military strikes. However, as the reporting did not identify a specific date, their details have been included in all assessments for October but have not been listed among the victims list until further information can tie them to a specific strike. AP reported that 42-year-old Robert Sanchez, a father, fisherman and native of Guiria had been helping traffickers navigate the waterways due to economic pressures when he disappeared and was reported as dead by relatives on social media. 24-year-old Dushak Milovcic, a former cadet in the National Guard Academy had dropped out to make more money from running drugs on boats for smugglers and was killed. Juan Carlos “El Guaramero” Fuentes, a former transit bus operator whose bus had broken down, turned to smuggling to feed his family and had only been on his second smuggling run when he was killed.

There were no additional details found among local sources about the victims.

Methodological note about classification of those killed in this incident

In documenting this incident, Airwars is following the guidance outlined by independent International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law experts, whereby those on the vessels are understood to be civilians, given that the legal framework in which the strikes are being conducted remains in question.

Airwars has therefore included a civilian casualty count of three deaths.