Remnants of an alleged drug boat blown up in a lethal strike by the U.S. military last week surfaced off Canouan on Saturday.
The discovery was made by a group of fishermen from the mainland. They indicated to the publication that no bodies were seen floating in the area.
The actual location of the strike was not made clear by the U.S. Southern Command last week, only stating that forces had struck a vessel allegedly transporting drugs in the Caribbean on Friday, killing three people.
“Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” Southern Command said in a post on X, adding that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.”
Fishermen who made the discovery said, the bow of the boat was still visible with the engine and most of the hull submerged.
The Nationality of those killed in the strike were not detailed by the U.S. military. However, St Vincent Times understands from several sources that three St Lucians who went out to sea last week Monday, have been missing since.
Those reports as of press time were not verified by St Lucian authorities, who promised to get back to the publication.
The location of the find raises questions about whether the boat was blown up in international waters or in the territorial waters of St Vincent.
The St Vincent government has not issued any word on the strikes or confirmed if they did indeed take place it within its seascape.
The Trump administration has adamantly defended the strikes as necessary to stop illegal drugs from entering the U.S. Since the strikes began in September, at least 37 strikes have killed 120 people, excluding Friday’s strike, according to the Department of Defense.
The U.S. resumed boat strikes in late January after largely backing off from attacking boats in the region following the U.S. military’s Jan. 3 kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.