"The US military conducted a series of 'kinetic strikes' on three boats allegedly carrying narcotics in the Eastern Pacific, announced the Southern Command on Monday. Footage released on Monday shows the strikes hitting the vessels, sending smoke and flames into the air after the explosions. The strikes were carried out by Joint Task Force Southern Spear under the order of US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, announced the Southern Command on X (formerly Twitter). "Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of eight male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions - three in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third," read the post. It comes amid the ongoing US military buildup and deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan 'narco boats' - with Trump also refusing to rule out land strikes and even a ground invasion. Caracas has denied claims of drug trafficking and accused the US of 'imperialism' and attempted 'regime change'. The recent US anti-drug campaign in the Caribbean has already killed more than 90 people and sunk over 20 vessels since September. The exact time and location of the released footage cannot be independently verified."