The US Southern Command said that it carried out kinetic strikes on three vessels in the Eastern Pacific, killing eight people.

"On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters," the US Southern Command said on Monday on X.

"Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking."

The Southern Command confirmed that the strikes left a total of eight "narco-terrorists" killed.

The United States struck more than 20 vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela as part of a military campaign President Donald Trump has launched on drug smuggling from the region.

At least 90 alleged drug smugglers have been killed in the process.