U.S. Military Targets Suspected Drug Vessel in Eastern Pacific
On Wednesday, Army Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed that another suspected drug carrier was taken out by the U.S. military in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
This latest strike marks the eighth such operation conducted under the Trump administration, with the previous seven all occurring in the Caribbean.
“Just yesterday, at President Trump’s direction, we executed a lethal kinetic attack on a vessel operated by a designated terrorist group that was engaging in drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth stated. “Intelligence indicated this ship was involved in illegal activities, using known trafficking routes while transporting narcotics.”
During the strike, two narco-terrorists were reportedly on board, and the attack took place in international waters. Both individuals were killed, and importantly, U.S. forces were unharmed.
Earlier that week, Hegseth had also mentioned that three suspected narco-terrorists were killed in another U.S. operation targeting a drug smuggling boat associated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army.
The “lethal kinetic attack” occurred on Friday in international waters, as mentioned in Hegseth’s post on X.
Hegseth emphasized that the vessel was actively involved in illegal drug smuggling and was traversing known trafficking routes, carrying significant quantities of narcotics at the time of the strike. “Three male narco-terrorists were on board when we attacked, and they were all neutralized with no harm to U.S. personnel,” he added.
Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) is classified as a terrorist organization, with Hegseth drawing parallels between them and al-Qaeda, the group founded by Osama bin Laden.
Since these military operations began last month, at least 33 individuals have reportedly died. This initiative is part of President Trump’s strategy to use military force to dismantle transnational drug cartels.
In a separate incident last Thursday, U.S. forces targeted what Trump described as a “very large drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean, resulting in the deaths of two narco-terrorism suspects while two others were captured.
Additionally, another strike on Tuesday resulted in six suspected smugglers being killed off Venezuela’s coast.
