By Staff Writer
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Feb 19, CMC -The Commander of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard Service, Deon Henry, said Thursday that the authorities here have confirmed the strike “of a vessel within our waters” last Friday “by a missile”.
In a broadcast on state media, Henry said that the Coast Guard had received the information from local fishermen, “who were actually on location” when they saw the vessel struck by “a missile.
“The fishermen were going towards the five FADs. When I say FAD, I’m talking about fish aggregating devices that were installed by the Ministry of Fisheries in 2024 and 2025. So these devices actually attract fish”.
Henry said that the FAD is the normal fisher ground for fishermen in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and “so the location put us some 45 miles southeast of St. Vincent, or 32 miles east of Canouan Island.
“So that confirms the strike that happened in our exclusive economic zone,” he said.
Earlier this week, the St. Lucia Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre said that his administration is “actively engaging through established diplomatic and security channels” after confirming that “people lost their lives” in the latest United States military strike against what Washington says are illegal drug dealers in the Caribbean Sea.
“I can confirm that people lost their lives, and to the best of my knowledge, I have no official notification on the circumstances surrounding their deaths,” Pierre told reporters, repeating that statement when asked by reporters whether those killed were St. Lucians.
“The issue is being investigated by the powers responsible for investigations,” he said.
Last Friday, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said that at the direction of the SOUTHCOM Commander General. Francis L. Donovan, the Joint Task Force Southern Spear, conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.
SOUTHCOM has since released a video of the attack that appears to show a missile strike on the boat, which then explodes into flames, leaving the vessel obliterated.
Last Saturday, the St. Vincent Times newspaper published photographs that it said were the remnants of an alleged drug boat blown up in a lethal strike by the US military last week that surfaced off Canouan, one of the Grenadine islands.
It said that the discovery was made by a group of fishermen from the mainland who had indicated that no bodies were seen floating in the area.
International law and human rights experts have repeatedly said such attacks by the Donald Trump administration amount to extrajudicial executions, even if those targeted are alleged to be engaged in drug trafficking.
Last month, the families of two Trinidadian men killed in a US strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat filed a lawsuit against the US government.
Lawyers filed the claim in Boston’s federal court on behalf of relatives of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, among six men killed off the coast of Venezuela on October 14 last year.
Henry said that the Coast Guard has been urging local fishermen to observe safety measures when going out to sea and “file what we call a …plan” informing “where you’re going to fish and what time you expect to be back”.
He said that this is “very important” and that fisherfolk should “also try to communicate with the family and local authorities on a, maybe, frequent basis.
“We also encourage fishermen to paint their vessels in bright colours, so that for search and rescue purposes, you can easily be identified by the Coast Guard or other assets looking for you in the event you get lost at sea.
He also urged fishermen, while at sea, if they see something, “please say something”.
He said all fishermen know one another and in the event they come across ”a non-national fishermen in our waters, say something, especially if those vessels have high power engines “.
“So once again, I can reiterate that the strike did happen in our waters,” Henry said, adding that the US South Command “did mention a strike was conducted by US forces”.
Meanwhile, National Secretary Minister, St. Clair Leacock, noted the difference between communication among law enforcement agencies and governments, and that Kingstown has not been informed by the United States of any military action in local waters.
“Are we upset? Are we concerned? Certainly, we feel that we have not been properly treated in this exercise. But we look around, and we see in this regard, we’re not alone. We have had experiences in neighbouring Venezuela. We know what is happening inthe international community, and we see what has been the outcome, and we take a very pragmatic approach to the resolution of this matter at hand.
“We continue therefore to wait and hope that, since we are all agreed and signed on to be respecters of sovereign rights through the various international and legal arrangements and instruments at our disposal, that this matter will come to early resolution and that that degree of normalcy will return to our society,” Leacock said.
He said in the meantime, the Ministry of National Security, as well as the police, the Coast Guard, and other stakeholders “who are already stretched by the impact of the narcotics trade in our parts, are asking all people to play their role and act wisely.”
Leacock warned fishermen as well as other members of the population that if they come across “parcels of drugs that are in the water or wash ashore,” inform the police and other law enforcement authorities immediately, adding “do not take chances with the belief that they represent a get-rich-quick opportunity. It’s not going to happen.
“And so at this time, we are asking all of our people to have confidence in your government, to continue to maintain that we resolve that as a people, that we are entitled to a high degree and modicum of respect as a sovereign state, and that as a collective who will do all our power to protect our combined interest.”
Leacock also defended the decision of the new government not to rush into making statements on the vessel strike, saying he had been “deliberately cautious and awaiting a sufficiency of information before I can speak intelligently to the matter at hand, and you can only speak about that which you know.
“My own political sensitivity tells me that there are people who are always anxious for us to be able to seize opportunities that are current to — and these are my words — demonstrate our masculinity, or as we are saying that we area sovereign state and that we can take care of our own affairs. “
Leacock said that he also wanted to address the issue of sovereignty, telling the nation that while St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an independent country, “sovereignty is buttressed and ensured, not just by military might or the lack thereof.
“It is supported through the international commitment to be a country of laws, and we do that by different means,” he said, adding “in this particular situation, we are like all Vincentians: sensitive to the fact that there are as many Vincentians living in diaspora communities, and some may well say that in the case of the United States of America, there may be more first., second and third and other generation of intentions who are residing there, with an interest in what’s happening in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Equally, there are very many Vincentians who are concerned that we maintain a level cordiality and respect for the relationship with what they call the big brother in the north, the United States of America.
“That we should get information. We certainly feel so entitled that we didn’t, didn’t get that information as yet, we are, of course, disappointed, but we are a government that understands the dynamics of international relationships and foreign relationships.
“We are in no position to flex any kind of muscle, but at the same time, we do not make ourselves a soft target to be taken for granted or disrespected. So we still await that opportunity by the United States government to give us further reportage on the zone strike in our economic zone,” Leacock said in the broadcast.
CMC/pr/ir/2026