“On the orders of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Lance conducted a lethal kinetic strike against a stealth vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations,” the statement said.
The US military noted that the strike took place in international waters.
“Intelligence confirmed that the stealthy vessel was following known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was involved in drug trafficking operations. One narco-terrorist was confirmed killed during the operation,” the tweet noted.
It also contains video of the ship being hit.
On Dec. 22, in the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting… pic.twitter.com/LGzEaQSTiR
— US Southern Command (@Southcom) December 23, 2025
The Ukrainian military portal Defense Express claims that the video shows an “extremely unusual” defeat of a “narco-submarine,” that is, a ship half-submerged at sea.
“Judging by the interface and the nature of the explosions, an AC-130J Ghostrider “flying artillery battery” was used for the destruction. […] What’s interesting is that the AC-130J used not just one gun to hit a target, but all of them at once,” the media writes.
Experts noted that the use of both guns at once (their calibers are 30 mm and 105 mm) is indicated by the nature of the hits: first, a strong explosion several tens of meters from the ship, and then more accurate shooting from an automatic gun of a smaller caliber.
