No fewer than 14 people suspected of smuggling hard drugs through the Pacific Ocean have been killed in strikes launched by United States forces on four alleged drug boats in the waterway.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said one survivor was rescued by emergency personnel after Mexican search-and-rescue authorities “accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the operation.”
In a statement on X, Hegseth said the four vessels targeted “were known by our intelligence apparatus, transitioning along known narco-trafficking routes and carrying narcotics.”
He added that eight “narco-terrorists” were killed in the first strike, while seven others died after being hit by US munitions in a subsequent attack.
“The department has spent over two decades defending other homelands,” he wrote. “Now, we’re defending our own.”
The latest strikes in the eastern Pacific, which Hegseth said occurred yesterday under the directive of President Donald Trump, mark an escalation in what Washington describes as a campaign to target international drug traffickers.
This is the most recent in a series of US attacks on vessels it claims were carrying narcotics in both the Pacific and Caribbean regions.
At least 57 people have now been killed in the strikes, which have heightened tensions between the United States and the governments of Colombia and Venezuela.
While most previous operations took place off the coast of South America in the Caribbean, US forces have more recently expanded their activities to the Pacific Ocean.
The strikes also come amid growing diplomatic friction. Washington has imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of failing to curb drug trafficking and allowing cartels to “flourish.”
In the Caribbean, the US has deployed troops, aircraft, and naval vessels, and last week ordered the world’s largest warship—the USS Gerald R. Ford—to the area.
President Trump has also accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a drug-trafficking organization, an allegation Maduro denies. Observers in Venezuela fear the US military buildup may be aimed at removing Trump’s long-time political adversary from power.
Meanwhile, the administration’s actions have drawn widespread condemnation across the region, and legal experts have questioned their legitimacy.
Members of the US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have also voiced concern and challenged the president’s authority to order such strikes without congressional approval.
President Trump has maintained that he possesses the legal authority to continue targeting boats in international waters but has suggested he may seek congressional authorization if the campaign is expanded to include land-based targets.
“We are totally prepared to strike land targets,” Trump said last week, signaling what would be a significant escalation in the US anti-narcotics campaign.
