Applying total systemic friction on the cartels. On April 11, at the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted two lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.  Two male narco-terrorists were killed, and one narco-terrorist survived the first strike. Three male narco-terrorists were killed during the second strike.  Following the engagements, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor. No U.S. military forces were harmed.

The Trump administration is ramping up its boat strike campaign, conducting three strikes in the space of three days. The U.S. has now conducted 50 strikes in its campaign of targeting civilian vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The death toll now exceeds 170. On April 11, the U.S. conducted attacks on two boats in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people in the first strike and leaving one shipwrecked. The search for that survivor has been abandoned and that person is presumed dead. Three people were killed in the second strike that day. These attacks were followed by another strike in the Eastern Pacific on April 13 that killed two more people. As part of Operation Southern Spear, the U.S. military has now destroyed 51 vessels and killed 171 civilians. The Trump administration claims its victims are members of at least one of 24 or more cartels and criminal gangs with whom it claims to be at war but refuses to name. The boat strikes recently moved to land as so-called “bilateral kinetic actions” along the Colombia–Ecuador border. “The joint effort, named ‘Operation Total Extermination,’ is the start of a military offensive by Ecuador against transnational criminal organizations with the support of the U.S.,” Joseph Humire, the acting assistant secretary of war for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, announced last month. “There’s a danger that these lawless killings just become background noise.” “There’s a danger that these lawless killings just become background noise,” Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who is a specialist in counterterrorism issues and the laws of war, told The Intercept in the wake of the 50th boat strike. “The U.S. Congress remains the institution best situated to bring these to halt — if not now, then at least after the midterms. And members of Congress and 2028 hopefuls should be vowing accountability for those who participated in unlawful killings.” Finucane and other experts in the laws of war, as well as members of Congress, from both parties, say the strikes are illegal, extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even suspected criminals — who do not pose an imminent threat of violence. The summary executions are a significant departure from standard practice in the long-running U.S. war on drugs, in which law enforcement agencies detained suspected drug smugglers and brought them to trial on criminal charges. After blowing up one of the boats on Saturday, U.S. Southern Command sent a message to the Coast Guard alerting them to “a person in distress in the Pacific Ocean,” Coast Guard spokesperson Kenneth Wiese told The Intercept. The Coast Guard “immediately commenced search efforts,” calling on ships in the area to divert to search for the survivor of the U.S. attack. The next day, a French-flagged cargo ship, MV Marius, diverted to the scene but “completed its search with negative results and departed the area due to operational and fuel constraints,” according to the Coast Guard. On Monday, a U.S.-flagged research vessel, RV Sikuliaq, “completed two search patterns provided by the Coast Guard with negative results.” The same day, at 10:43 Pacific time, the Coast Guard suspended its efforts after having found “no signs of survivors or debris.” Most boat strike survivors have been purposefully killed or left to drown by the United States. Two survivors, for example, clung to the wreckage of a vessel attacked on September 2, 2025, for roughly 45 minutes. Adm. Frank Bradley — then the head of Joint Special Operations Command — sought guidance from his top legal adviser, Col. Cara Hamaguchi, the staff judge advocate at the secretive JSOC. He then ordered a follow-up attack, first reported by The Intercept in September, that killed the shipwrecked men. Search efforts for survivors have seldom resulted in rescues. After a U.S boat strike on December 30, a Coast Guard plane did not head toward the site of the attack for almost two days, reporting from Airwars and The Intercept revealed. A total of 11 civilians died following that attack— including eight who jumped overboard. The Coast Guard atypically rescued the survivor of a March 19 attack that killed two civilians. The Costa Rican press recently identified the deceased as Ecuadoran citizens Pedro Ramón Holguín, 40, and Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Solórzano, 34. The injured man was identified as José David Torres Hurtado, 21, a Colombian national. He reportedly remains hospitalized in the burn unit at San Juan de Dios Hospital, “where, according to medical reports, his condition is critical but stable,” said Costa Rican authorities. The Intercept reported on Monday that the U.S. is waging a pressure campaign against the leading pan-American human rights watchdog to squash a potential investigation into the illegal boat strike campaign. After a recent meeting of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the State Department pushed the organization to shift its focus to other issues instead of the U.S. campaign of extrajudicial killings.

#DRUGTRAFFICKING An attack on two drug-laden vessels resulted in their destruction, according to @Southcom. Military intelligence confirmed that the boats were traveling along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were involved in drug trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the first attack. Three male narco-terrorists were killed during the second attack.

#NARCOTRAFICO Un ataque contra dos embarcaciones con droga fueron destruidas, según @Southcom la inteligencia militar confirmó que las lanchas transitaban por rutas conocidas de narcotráfico en el Pacífico Oriental e involucradas en operaciones de narcotráfico. Dos narco-terroristas murieron y uno sobrevivió al primer ataque. Tres narco-terroristas varones fueron abatidos durante el segundo ataque.

US Eliminates Two Drug-Trafficking Boats, Leaving Five Dead in the Pacific The US Southern Command reported that military forces carried out two attacks against vessels in the Pacific Ocean allegedly linked to drug trafficking, as part of its operations in the region. According to the report, five people died in the operations, while one survived and received medical attention after a search and rescue protocol was activated. The boats, the military command stated, were operating on known drug trafficking routes. These actions are part of Operation "Southern Spear," a Washington military strategy that has included multiple attacks against drug trafficking organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent months. #EVTVNews #SouthernCommand #DrugTrafficking

EEUU eliminó dos narcolanchas con saldo de cinco muertos en el Pacífico El Comando Sur de Estados Unidos informó que fuerzas militares ejecutaron dos ataques contra embarcaciones en el Pacífico presuntamente vinculadas al narcotráfico, como parte de sus operaciones en la región. Según el reporte, cinco personas murieron en los operativos, mientras una sobrevivió y fue atendida tras activarse un protocolo de búsqueda y rescate. Las lanchas, aseguró el mando militar, operaban en rutas conocidas del narcotráfico. Estas acciones se enmarcan en la operación “Lanza del Sur”, una estrategia militar de Washington que ha incluido múltiples ataques contra estructuras del narcotráfico en América Latina y el Caribe en los últimos meses. #NoticiasEVTV #ComandoSur #Narcotrafico

US | The US Southern Command carried out lethal attacks against vessels linked to narco-terrorist organizations in the Pacific, leaving five dead and one survivor.

EEUU | El Comando Sur de EE.UU. ejecutó ataques letales contra embarcaciones vinculadas a organizaciones narco-terroristas en el Pacífico, dejando cinco abatidos y un sobreviviente.

The U.S. Southern Command indicated that one person survived the attack on the first vessel, so they immediately notified the Coast Guard for search and rescue.

El Comando Sur de EE.UU. indicó que una persona sobrevivió al ataque a la primera embarcación, por lo que notificaron de inmediato a la Guardia Costera para su búsqueda y rescate.

#April13 #World | US kills five men in attacks on two boats in the Pacific

#13Abr #Mundo | EE. UU. mata a cinco hombres en ataques a dos lanchas en el Pacífico

#DRUGTRAFFICKING An attack on two drug-laden vessels resulted in their destruction, according to @Southcom. Military intelligence confirmed that the boats were traveling along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were involved in drug trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the first attack. Three male narco-terrorists were killed during the second attack.

#NARCOTRAFICO Un ataque contra dos embarcaciones con droga fueron destruidas, según @Southcom la inteligencia militar confirmó que las lanchas transitaban por rutas conocidas de narcotráfico en el Pacífico Oriental e involucradas en operaciones de narcotráfico. Dos narco-terroristas murieron y uno sobrevivió al primer ataque. Tres narco-terroristas varones fueron abatidos durante el segundo ataque.

Ep 201 – Two boats destroyed. Five more dead. The death toll since September in US naval operations in the Pacific against suspected drug traffickers has now reached 168. The numbers don't lie, but the questions don't stop either.

Ep 201 – Dos lanchas destruidas. Cinco muertos más. Ya son 168 fallecidos desde septiembre en operaciones navales de EE.UU. en el Pacífico contra supuestos narcotraficantes. Los números no mienten, pero las preguntas tampoco paran.

United States Attacks Two Drug-Trafficking Boats in the Eastern Pacific: Five Dead 0 seconds of 34 seconds Volume 90% The United States Armed Forces killed five men on Saturday in two attacks against vessels in the Eastern Pacific allegedly linked to drug trafficking, the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) reported on Sunday, stating that the operations were carried out on routes known for these illicit activities. According to a statement released on the social network X, SOUTHCOM specified that the two vessels “were operated by designated terrorist organizations” and that they “were transiting known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were conducting drug trafficking operations.” The action was part of ongoing military operations in the region. The military agency detailed that in the first attack, two of the three occupants of one of the boats died, while the third survived. “Two male narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the first attack,” the statement said. Following the operation, military authorities notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate a search and rescue operation for the survivor. In the second attack, targeting another vessel, its three crew members were killed. “Three male narco-terrorists were killed during the second attack,” SOUTHCOM added, without providing further details about the victims' identities or the condition of the survivor from the first incident. The official message was headlined with the phrase “applying total systemic friction to the cartels” and was accompanied by a 34-second black-and-white video. The images show a speedboat traveling at high speed before exploding, followed by a second, similar explosion against another vessel. According to a statement released on social media, SOUTHCOM specified that the two vessels “were operated by designated terrorist organizations” (RUETERS). Southern Command indicated that the attacks were carried out as part of Operation Southern Spear, a military initiative that the United States has been implementing since September 2015 in its area of responsibility, which encompasses Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The operation was conducted “under the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, General Francis Donovan,” according to the statement. The objective of this operation included increasing pressure on drug trafficking organizations in the region. The campaign is part of a broader strategy launched by Washington after accusing networks linked to the Venezuelan government of “narco-terrorism.” Operation Southern Spear was also linked to the regional political context following the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3. Despite this, the campaign of attacks did not stop and extended beyond the Caribbean Sea into the eastern Pacific. According to information released by the Southern Command itself, in the attacks reported this weekend, “no members of the U.S. military forces were injured.” The military body insisted that the actions were based on intelligence confirming the vessels' involvement in drug trafficking operations. Operation Southern Spear was also linked to the regional political context following the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3 (REUTERS). The U.S. military campaign in the region has resulted in at least 168 deaths, according to available data, and has generated criticism from governments and international organizations. Some of these criticisms include allegations and accusations of extrajudicial killings, as well as diplomatic tensions, including with the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. (With information from EFE and EP)

Estados Unidos atacó dos narcolanchas en el Pacífico oriental: cinco muertos0 seconds of 34 secondsVolume 90%Las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos abatieron el sábado a cinco hombres en dos ataques contra embarcaciones en el Pacífico oriental presuntamente vinculadas al narcotráfico, informó este domingo el Comando Sur (SOUTHCOM), que aseguró que las operaciones se realizaron en rutas conocidas para estas actividades ilícitas.Según un comunicado difundido en la red social X, el SOUTHCOM precisó que las dos embarcaciones “estaban operadas por organizaciones designadas terroristas” y que “transitaban rutas de narcotráfico conocidas en el Pacífico Este y que estaban realizando operaciones de narcotráfico”. La acción formó parte de operaciones militares en curso en la región.El organismo militar detalló que en el primer ataque murieron dos de los tres ocupantes de una de las lanchas, mientras que el tercero sobrevivió. “Dos narcoterroristas varones murieron y uno sobrevivió al primer ataque”, señaló el comunicado. Tras el operativo, las autoridades militares notificaron a la Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos para activar un dispositivo de búsqueda y rescate del sobreviviente.En el segundo ataque, dirigido contra otra embarcación, murieron sus tres tripulantes. “Tres narcoterroristas varones murieron durante el segundo ataque”, agregó el SOUTHCOM, sin aportar detalles adicionales sobre la identidad de las víctimas ni sobre el estado del sobreviviente del primer incidente.El mensaje oficial fue encabezado por la frase “aplicando fricción sistémica total a los cárteles” y estuvo acompañado por un video en blanco y negro de 34 segundos. En las imágenes se observa una lancha desplazarse a alta velocidad antes de estallar, seguida por una segunda detonación similar contra otra embarcación.Según un comunicado difundido en la red social X, el SOUTHCOM precisó que las dos embarcaciones “estaban operadas por organizaciones designadas terroristas” (RUETERS)El Comando Sur indicó que los ataques se ejecutaron en el marco de la operación Lanza del Sur, una iniciativa militar que Estados Unidos implementa desde septiembre de 2025 en su área de responsabilidad, que abarca Centroamérica, Suramérica y el Caribe. La operación se desarrolló “bajo la dirección del comandante del Comando Sur de Estados Unidos, el general Francis Donovan”, según el comunicado.El objetivo de esta operación incluyó incrementar la presión sobre estructuras vinculadas al narcotráfico en la región. La campaña se enmarca en una estrategia más amplia que Washington impulsó tras acusar de “narcoterrorismo” a redes asociadas al gobierno venezolano.La operación Lanza del Sur también se vinculó al contexto político regional tras la captura del dictador venezolano Nicolás Maduro el pasado 3 de enero. Pese a ese hecho, la campaña de ataques no se detuvo y se extendió más allá del mar Caribe hacia el Pacífico oriental.De acuerdo con información difundida por el propio Comando Sur, en los ataques reportados este fin de semana “ningún miembro de las fuerzas militares estadounidenses resultó herido”. El organismo militar insistió en que las acciones se basaron en inteligencia que confirmaba la participación de las embarcaciones en operaciones de narcotráfico.La operación Lanza del Sur también se vinculó al contexto político regional tras la captura del dictador venezolano Nicolás Maduro el pasado 3 de enero (REUTERS)La campaña militar estadounidense en la región acumula, según los datos disponibles, al menos 168 víctimas mortales y generó cuestionamientos de gobiernos y organizaciones internacionales. Algunas de estas críticas incluyen denuncias y acusaciones de ejecuciones extrajudiciales, así como tensiones diplomáticas, entre ellas con el presidente de Colombia, Gustavo Petro.(Con información de EFE y EP)

The Trump administration is ramping up its boat strike campaign, conducting three strikes in the space of three days. The U.S. has now conducted 50 strikes in its campaign of targeting civilian vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The death toll now exceeds 170. On April 11, the U.S. conducted attacks on two boats in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people in the first strike and leaving one shipwrecked. The search for that survivor has been abandoned and that person is presumed dead. Three people were killed in the second strike that day. These attacks were followed by another strike in the Eastern Pacific on April 13 that killed two more people. As part of Operation Southern Spear, the U.S. military has now destroyed 51 vessels and killed 171 civilians. The Trump administration claims its victims are members of at least one of 24 or more cartels and criminal gangs with whom it claims to be at war but refuses to name. The boat strikes recently moved to land as so-called “bilateral kinetic actions” along the Colombia–Ecuador border. “The joint effort, named ‘Operation Total Extermination,’ is the start of a military offensive by Ecuador against transnational criminal organizations with the support of the U.S.,” Joseph Humire, the acting assistant secretary of war for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, announced last month. “There’s a danger that these lawless killings just become background noise.” “There’s a danger that these lawless killings just become background noise,” Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who is a specialist in counterterrorism issues and the laws of war, told The Intercept in the wake of the 50th boat strike. “The U.S. Congress remains the institution best situated to bring these to halt — if not now, then at least after the midterms. And members of Congress and 2028 hopefuls should be vowing accountability for those who participated in unlawful killings.” Finucane and other experts in the laws of war, as well as members of Congress, from both parties, say the strikes are illegal, extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even suspected criminals — who do not pose an imminent threat of violence. The summary executions are a significant departure from standard practice in the long-running U.S. war on drugs, in which law enforcement agencies detained suspected drug smugglers and brought them to trial on criminal charges. After blowing up one of the boats on Saturday, U.S. Southern Command sent a message to the Coast Guard alerting them to “a person in distress in the Pacific Ocean,” Coast Guard spokesperson Kenneth Wiese told The Intercept. The Coast Guard “immediately commenced search efforts,” calling on ships in the area to divert to search for the survivor of the U.S. attack. The next day, a French-flagged cargo ship, MV Marius, diverted to the scene but “completed its search with negative results and departed the area due to operational and fuel constraints,” according to the Coast Guard. On Monday, a U.S.-flagged research vessel, RV Sikuliaq, “completed two search patterns provided by the Coast Guard with negative results.” The same day, at 10:43 Pacific time, the Coast Guard suspended its efforts after having found “no signs of survivors or debris.” Most boat strike survivors have been purposefully killed or left to drown by the United States. Two survivors, for example, clung to the wreckage of a vessel attacked on September 2, 2025, for roughly 45 minutes. Adm. Frank Bradley — then the head of Joint Special Operations Command — sought guidance from his top legal adviser, Col. Cara Hamaguchi, the staff judge advocate at the secretive JSOC. He then ordered a follow-up attack, first reported by The Intercept in September, that killed the shipwrecked men. Search efforts for survivors have seldom resulted in rescues. After a U.S boat strike on December 30, a Coast Guard plane did not head toward the site of the attack for almost two days, reporting from Airwars and The Intercept revealed. A total of 11 civilians died following that attack— including eight who jumped overboard. The Coast Guard atypically rescued the survivor of a March 19 attack that killed two civilians. The Costa Rican press recently identified the deceased as Ecuadoran citizens Pedro Ramón Holguín, 40, and Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Solórzano, 34. The injured man was identified as José David Torres Hurtado, 21, a Colombian national. He reportedly remains hospitalized in the burn unit at San Juan de Dios Hospital, “where, according to medical reports, his condition is critical but stable,” said Costa Rican authorities. The Intercept reported on Monday that the U.S. is waging a pressure campaign against the leading pan-American human rights watchdog to squash a potential investigation into the illegal boat strike campaign. After a recent meeting of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the State Department pushed the organization to shift its focus to other issues instead of the U.S. campaign of extrajudicial killings.