JTF Southern Spear killed 11 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in southern Caribbean; 1st strike, ~11 campaign deaths
On September 2, 2025, U.S. military forces conducting Operation Southern Spear struck a vessel in the southern Caribbean, killing eleven people the Trump administration labeled Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists. President Trump announced the action on Truth Social and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted video of the explosion, but neither provided public evidence identifying those aboard as drug traffickers or gang members. The strike was conducted without congressional authorization or judicial process and was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. military airstrike in the Americas since the 1989 Panama invasion.