US strikes another boat in eastern Pacific, killing 4

<i>US Southern Command via CNN Newsource</i><br/>The US Southern Command released new video of showing a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters on December 17 at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

By CNN Newsource

Published December 17, 2025 7:38 PM

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

(CNN) — The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing 4 people, according to US Southern Command.

“On Dec. 17, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X.

SOUTHCOM added no US service members were harmed in the strike.

Wednesday’s attack marks the second this week, after the US struck three alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing 8 people.

At least 99 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.

The strikes are a part of increased US military action in South America, focused on Venezuela, a nation that President Donald Trump has accused of stealing US “oil, land and other assets.”

The administration has moved thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean, and Trump on Tuesday ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded to Trump earlier Wednesday, accusing the US of seeking regime change along with ownership of Venezuela’s territory and resources.

“It is simply a warmongering and colonialist pretense, and we have said so many times, and now everyone sees the truth. The truth has been revealed,” Maduro said in Caracas.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Congress are continuing to pressure the Trump administration for more information about its offensive on the alleged drug boats.

Many lawmakers have scrutinized a controversial follow-up strike on September 2 that killed two crew members who had survived an initial strike on an alleged drug boat. After privately briefing lawmakers Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon will not release the full video of the attack to the public.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees and other appropriate committees, he said, “will see it, but not the general public.”

Senate Democrats left the briefing with Hegseth and other Trump administration officials frustrated that they were not shown the unedited video.

However, Congress has moved to shore up its ability to see the footage, sending the annual defense policy bill to Trump’s desk Wednesday with a provision that would withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget until unedited videos of the strikes are released to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

This story has been updated with additional details.