The U.S. military on Monday conducted a military strike against a vessel suspected of transporting drugs in international waters in the eastern Pacific, killing two men aboard, the U.S. Southern Command said.
In a post on the social media platform X, the command said that the strike was carried out by the U.S. Joint Task Force Southern Spear at the direction of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, targeting a vessel reportedly operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters.
Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations, the post said, adding that two male narco-terrorists were killed in the attack.
In recent months, the United States has increased its military presence in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela under the stated objective of countering drug trafficking.
On November 13, Washington formally announced the launch of the military initiative "Southern Spear," aimed at increasing pressure on the Venezuelan government. To date, however, the U.S. has not publicly presented verifiable evidence linking the vessels it has targeted to drug smuggling operations.
Data from recent reports issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration indicates that Venezuela is not a primary source of narcotics entering the United States. Venezuelan authorities have repeatedly accused the United States of using counter-narcotics operations as a pretext for military expansion in Latin America and attempting to orchestrate a change of government in Venezuela through military intimidation.
US military conducts strike against 1 alleged drug vessel in eastern Pacific, killing 2
US military conducts strike against 1 alleged drug vessel in eastern Pacific, killing 2
The newly upgraded Huanggang Port connecting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Chinese mainland recorded more than 3.44 million inbound and outbound passenger trips in its first month of operation, averaging 114,000 per day -- a 120 percent year-on-year increase, as Shenzhen prepares for the 2026 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Week.
With the event approaching, all 25 APEC-dedicated channels across Shenzhen's ports in south China have been opened to facilitate the entry of participants and media from APEC member economies.
The upgraded Huanggang Port is operating smoothly, with its single-day passenger flow recently hitting the highest level since 2019.
At Huanggang Port, travelers now only need to queue once and present their documents once to complete immigration procedures for both sides.
"Usually it takes about one minute to go through customs on both sides. My fastest time was 36 seconds," said a passenger from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Huanggang Port is the only 24-hour land passenger port between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Since November, Shenzhen's ports have opened a total of 25 APEC-dedicated inspection channels. Among them, the Huanggang Border Inspection Station has processed 14,000 trips of foreign nationals from APEC economies, a month-on-month increase of 102 percent. "Facing the continuous high passenger flow, the Huanggang Border Inspection Station has strengthened early warning and analysis, continuously enhanced communication and coordination with the Hong Kong side, cross-border operating units, and foreign affairs departments, and reinforced our multilingual service team to ensure efficient and smooth customs clearance," said Yang Huan, staff member at the Huanggang Border Inspection Station.
As China's largest single port building and the world's largest land port complex, the facility covers a total floor area of 689,700 square meters, featuring four underground and five above-ground floors.
The original Huanggang Port, which opened in 1989, was China's first large-scale land port with 24-hour clearance. Reconstruction on the original site began in 2019 to meet the surging demand for cross-border passage.
Upgraded Huanggang Port handles over 3.44 million passenger trips in first month
