JTF Southern Spear killed 3 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in Caribbean; 16th strike, ~62 campaign deaths

On November 1, 2025, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing all three people on board. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike on X late that Saturday, stating it was carried out on President Trump's orders and targeted a vessel "known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling." No evidence was presented to substantiate the claims, and no attempt was made to interdict, board, or arrest the occupants.

The November 1 strike was the 16th operation of the Southern Spear campaign, which U.S. forces had conducted across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since early September 2025. By this point the campaign had killed more than 62 people and destroyed approximately 14 boats — none of the dead had faced judicial review or been charged in any court. The campaign operated without a formal name until November 13, when Hegseth announced it as "Operation Southern Spear" following the 20th strike. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had characterized the strikes as extrajudicial killings that violated international law, which largely prohibits lethal military force against noncombatants outside a declared conflict zone.

The Standing records this entry as the 16th distinct extrajudicial killing event in the Southern Spear campaign. Each strike represents a separate instance of uniformed military forces conducting lethal operations in international waters without congressional authorization, public evidence, or judicial process.