The US military campaign against suspected maritime drug smugglers has continued for a year, with 68 strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific killing 227 people.
Operation Southern Spear began in September 2025 by order of Donald Trump and gradually turned from a classic fight against drug trafficking into a full-fledged military campaign.
According to detailed Just Security chronologyby the end of August it was carried out 68 strokes. 227 people were killed, including 23 who disappeared after the attacks and are presumed dead. Only three survivors are known.
American US Southern Command – SOUTHCOM calls the targets “narco-terrorists” and claims that the attacked ships were used by structures listed by Washington as terrorist organizations.
US reports drop in drug trafficking
On September 2, the US military summed up the results of the first year of the operation.
SOUTHCOM said illegal maritime activity fell by 65% in the western Caribbean, 60% in the eastern and almost 50% in key areas of the eastern Pacific.
However, it is not yet possible to independently verify exactly how much the impacts caused this decline. Moreover, critics note that drug trafficking routes could simply move to other directions.
Evidence remains classified
Washington regularly publishes videos of the destruction of boats obtained from American aircraft and other reconnaissance platforms.
However, the public, as a rule, is not provided with evidence of that the people on board were actually transporting drugs or posed an immediate threat.
It was this problem that “Athens News” examined in detail back in June in the material “USA: war on drug cartels or extrajudicial killings?”.
At that time, the death toll was 211. Over the following months, it increased by another 16 people.
Amnesty: These could be extrajudicial killings
Amnesty International directly calls the American practice of air strikes on suspected drug transporters possible extrajudicial executions and demands its termination.
The disappearance of the Ecuadorian ship attracted particular attention from human rights activists. Fiorella: Eight of the ten crew members are missing, and there are suspicions that the ship may have been the target of an American attack.
From boats to Venezuela
The legal disputes surrounding Southern Spear are especially important in the context of what the American campaign has gradually become.
It was the fight against drug trafficking that Washington initially explained the large-scale military presence off the coast of Venezuela. Then, on January 3, 2026, US forces conducted an operation in Caracas and captured Nicolas Maduro.
“Athens News” analyzed this operation in detail in the material “30 minutes to capture Maduro: how the US carried out a lightning operation in Venezuela”.
Today Maduro is in an American prison and is trying to get the criminal case dismissed, claiming that as head of state he had immunity. His trial is scheduled for 2027.
Meanwhile, the United States has already gained large-scale access to the oil sector of Venezuela. Just a few days ago we talked about an agreement that gives the American side access to development 17 Venezuelan fields with reserves of about 65 billion barrels.
Editorial comment
Southern Spear’s main question remains the same a year later: Does the state have the right to exterminate people only on the basis of intelligence information about alleged involvement in drug trafficking – without detention, charges or trial?
Washington claims that it is waging an armed struggle against “narco-terrorists.” Human rights activists respond that the fight against crime does not abolish the human right to life and judicial procedure.
It is especially significant that the campaign that began as an operation against drug boats became part of a much broader American policy in the region – from the military operation against Maduro to the subsequent redistribution of access to Venezuelan oil.
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