U.S. Southern Command

01/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/23/2026 16:44

Lethal Kinetic Strike, Jan. 23, 2026

On Jan. 23, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.

Two narco-terrorists were killed and one survived the strike. Following the engagement, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivor.

U.S. Southern Command published this content on January 23, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 23, 2026 at 22:44 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]