Two men were killed Wednesday in a strike on a suspected narco boat in the Eastern Pacific, U.S. Southern Command announced.
The vessel, allegedly operated by an unidentified designated terrorist organization, is said to have been traveling along known narco-trafficking routes, USSOUTHCOM said.
The strike was the 60th strike as part of Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration’s campaign against drug cartels and maritime drug trafficking. At least 194 people have been killed in the strikes to date.
The strike – the second this week – occurred as the U.S. Navy’s presence in the region winds down. The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group embarked with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit are heading home, set to arrive in the coming days, following nearly 10 months in the SOUTHCOM.
With the entire amphibious ready group heading home, the U.S. has one guided-missile cruiser – USS Lake Erie (CG-70) – and one Littoral Combat Ship – USS Billings (LCS-15) – in SOUTHCOM. Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and its destroyer escort USS Gridley (DDG-101) are also in the Caribbean as the Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier makes its way to Norfolk, Va., for decommissioning.
The Iwo Jima ARG, which was comprised of USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) and USS San Antonio (LPD-17), deployed in August as part of a naval buildup that at one point included at least 10 surface ships operating in the region.
In recent months, top officials for the Navy and Marine Corps have said the services are reconsidering what ships will be used for future SOUTHCOM taskings.
The Marine Corps is preparing to deploy Marines on specialty platforms like the Expeditionary Fast Transport and the Expeditionary Sea Base due to a lack of ready amphibious ships on both coasts, a top general said last month at the annual Modern Day Marine symposium.
“We are generating and training the 24th MEU to backfill some of those capabilities [in SOUTHCOM],” said Lt. Gen. Jay Bargeron, the deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations. “It won’t be able to backfill all of them. And make no mistake, that’s no ARG/MEU. That is a MEU. It’s sub-optimized, but it will be available to provide some capability. And I think that perhaps there will be another single ship deployed that will help them have some capability.”
