Overview
- U.S. Southern Command said a Feb. 5 strike in the Eastern Pacific targeted a boat on known trafficking routes and released a short video of the blast; two people were killed and no U.S. forces were hurt.
- The action was ordered by Gen. Francis L. Donovan under Operation Lanza del Sur, also known as Southern Spear.
- Press tallies now put the campaign’s death toll at about 128 across roughly 37 strikes since early September 2025, though some outlets report lower cumulative counts.
- The U.N. human-rights chief has condemned the maritime killings as extrajudicial and in violation of international human-rights law.
- Families of two Trinidad and Tobago nationals killed in an October strike have sued the U.S. government, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed cartels have paused operations without offering supporting evidence.