Operation Southern Spear's 68th Strike Kills Four Aboard Alleged Drug Boat, Second Strike in Days

Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out the 68th strike of Operation Southern Spear on August 26, 2026, killing four people aboard an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea — the second such strike within days, ending a pause in strikes that had run since June 21, 2026. SOUTHCOM said it had intelligence confirming the vessel was trafficking narcotics along an established Caribbean smuggling route; the exact location was not disclosed. The strike brought the campaign's cumulative toll since September 2025 to at least 227 killed across 68 strikes. Colombian and Venezuelan officials have publicly stated that some of those killed in the campaign were not cartel members, a claim the Trump administration rejects.