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JTF Southern Spear killed three aboard suspected narcotics vessel in Caribbean; 39th strike, ~134 campaign deaths

On Feb. 13, 2026, at the direction of U.S. Southern Command commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a "lethal kinetic strike" on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea that SOUTHCOM alleged — without presenting evidence and without interdiction, arrest, or judicial process — was operated by a designated terrorist organization. Three men were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed. The strike is part of the open-ended Operation Southern Spear campaign of lethal strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats.

Part of: Trump Administration SouthCom Pacific Drug-Boat Strike Campaign

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Caribbean Sea (international waters)

Abuses documented

Actors

On February 13, 2026, at the direction of U.S. Southern Command commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted what SOUTHCOM termed a "lethal kinetic strike" on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea. SOUTHCOM alleged the boat was operated by a designated terrorist organization and was transiting known narco-trafficking routes, but presented no public evidence and made no attempt at interdiction, arrest, or any judicial process. Three men aboard were killed; no U.S. military forces were harmed.

The strike is one in U.S. Southern Command's open-ended Operation Southern Spear campaign of lethal strikes on vessels it alleges are operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations along narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The campaign has killed scores of people on the assertion of officials, without charges, trials, or congressional authorization for the use of military force — raising both extrajudicial-killing concerns and concerns about the use of uniformed armed forces for lethal counter-narcotics operations.

Why we recorded this

A foundational rule of constitutional government is that the state may not punish people — least of all kill them — without lawful process, and that the decision to wage war belongs to Congress, not to the military acting alone. Extrajudicial action is the government imposing a sanction, here lethal force, on people who have had no charge, no trial, and no chance to answer the accusation against them. We record this because U.S. Southern Command killed three men aboard a boat it merely asserted was operated by a designated terrorist organization, with no evidence presented, no attempt at interdiction or arrest, and no congressional authorization for hostilities. Using uniformed forces for lethal counter-narcotics action on the say-so of officials, rather than proving guilt in court, erases the line between law enforcement and unchecked force.

Sources

  1. Lethal Kinetic Strike, Feb. 13, 2026 — U.S. Southern Command primary accessed June 13, 2026
  2. Timeline of Boat Strikes and Related Actions — Just Security secondary accessed June 13, 2026

See also