Killing at Sea
Three families, two bombings and a hidden war: uncovering the lives behind Operation Southern Spear’s dead.

Three families, two bombings and a hidden war: uncovering the lives behind Operation Southern Spear’s dead.






![Members of the Los Baja Deo organisation accused by US prosecutors of trafficking drugs and possessing firearms in Puerto Rico. [United States Department of Justice]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Taking-Back-West-In-Order-In-custody-1787864418.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

![Vessels take part in a joint training exercise during Panamax 2026, a multinational exercise led by Panama and sponsored by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), in Panama City, Panama, on August 7, 2026. [Enea Lebrun/Reuters]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-08-07T200426Z_666177120_RC2TTMASVNBN_RTRMADP_3_PANAMA-USA-CANAL-1787559950.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
US defence secretary says drug cartels will be ‘targeted like ISIS’

Erling Haaland’s name and image turned up on hundreds of cocaine bricks seized by Ecuadorian police.

A car bomb destroyed a toll booth on a highway in Colombia a day after President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in.
Authorities say they broke up one of the largest criminal networks running migrant smuggling in Western Mediterranean.

Mexico deployed more than 1,500 troops to its main avocado-producing state after the US suspended export inspections.
The 34-year-old boxer tested positive for cocaine on day of shock loss to Fabio Wardley in London in October.
The Trump administration has sought to weaken the leadership of high-profile Mexican cartels by increasing the bounties.

Footage shows some of the more than 200 Bolivian police and military officers patrolling its border with Brazil.

Liberian authorities burned 4.2 metric tonnes of cocaine worth about $336 million.

Citizen vigilantes patrol Ghana’s streets, fighting an opioid crisis. We meet those taking the law into their own hands.