The United States Armed Forces have reported the death of three alleged "narco-terrorists" following a new bombing raid against vessels allegedly linked to drug trafficking in Colombian Pacific waters.
"On May 29, and by order of the Commander of Southern Command, General Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force South Lanza conducted a lethal kinetic strike against a vessel of terrorist organizations," the U.S. Southern Command published in a statement.
"Three narco-terrorist males died during this action. No U.S. military personnel were harmed," according to CENTCOM, which emphasizes that it "maintains its unwavering commitment to the full and systematic application of pressure on the cartels."
The boat "was transiting a known drug trafficking route in the eastern Pacific and was conducting drug trafficking operations," Washington explained, offering no further details about the operation.
Almost nine months after the start of bombing raids against vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, public health specialists maintain that cocaine, the main substance clandestinely transported from Latin America to the United States, remains just as accessible in large areas of the North American country as before these attacks. This is according to a study examining the evolution of street prices, fatal overdoses, sample purity, and drug seizures at U.S. border crossings, included in the "Costs of War" document from Brown University.
According to this academic project, the accumulated spending on these military campaigns amounts to 4.7 billion dollars, and it highlights the use of AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft, F-35 fighters, and guided-missile destroyers, in addition to the deployment of some 15,000 U.S. Armed Forces personnel.
Another of the main criticisms of these bombings is of a legal nature, as legal experts question the legality of the lethal use of force outside U.S. territorial waters.
U.S. authorities, for their part, maintain that the offensives have altered certain drug trafficking maritime routes and have contributed to an increase in cocaine seizures by the Coast Guard, which exceeded 230,000 kilograms in 2025, more than triple the annual average for this body.
However, although the figure is very high, it remains far below the strong increase in cocaine production in South America, especially in Colombia, the world's main source of this drug. In Colombian territory alone, the United Nations estimates that annual production is around 2.5 million kilograms.