US military kills 14 in attacks on vessels in the Pacific, according to Hegseth | US military

The U.S. military has killed 14 people and left one alive in attacks on drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday, as the Trump administration continued to expand its campaign beyond the Caribbean.

The latest attacks mean the US has now attacked at least 13 ships, bringing the officially accepted death toll since the campaign began at the beginning of September to 51 people.

Hegseth did not provide geographical details beyond saying the attacks took place in the Eastern Pacific, in international waters. After initially focusing on boats off the coast of Venezuela, the administration began targeting boats on the west coast of the Americas last week.

In a social media post announcing the issue, Hegseth said four boats were hit in three separate attacks on Sunday. He said the boats were “known to our intelligence apparatus, transiting known drug smuggling routes and carrying narcotics.” He also acknowledged that there was a survivor.

Hegseth said that perhaps in an effort to avoid legally challenging questions that might arise from detaining the man, the United States assigned Mexico to assume search and rescue responsibilities, and Mexico agreed.

Hegseth attempted to justify the attacks by comparing U.S. attacks on alleged drug traffickers to attacks on Al Qaeda targets during the global war on terror.

“The Department has spent OVER TWENTY YEARS defending other homelands. Now we are defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, set up networks, and then hunt them down and kill them,” Hegseth said.

However, the rationale for the strikes is widely debated by legal experts. First, Congress authorized the use of force when the United States killed members of Al Qaeda. Trump’s World War II campaign to defend the United States against an imminent threat while the administration targets drug cartel members. He relied on his article powers.

The latest boat attacks come as the United States looks set to begin hitting targets on the ground in the coming weeks after the Pentagon sent its most advanced aircraft carrier and strike group to the Caribbean; This is a major escalation in the Trump administration’s declared war on drug cartels.

The move is expected to bring the USS Gerald Ford, along with dozens of fighter jets and escorting destroyers, to the coast of Venezuela by about the end of the week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Sending the carrier strike group to the Caribbean is the clearest sign yet that the administration intends to dramatically expand the scope of its lethal military campaign to hit targets on land on small boats allegedly carrying drugs destined for the United States.

The supercarrier has dozens of F-18 Super Hornet jets, increasing its strike firepower and ability to strike U.S. air defenses in Venezuela. That would pave the way for U.S. special operations or drones to destroy targets on the ground, current and former officials said.

Donald Trump also confirmed to reporters at the White House on October 23 that the next phase of the campaign was to hit targets on the ground. “Land will be next,” the President said. “Terrestrial drugs are much more dangerous for them. It’s going to be much more dangerous. You’ll see that soon.”

Trump did not discuss which targets in which countries the US planned to hit. But he instructed Hegseth, who sat next to him at the White House event, to brief Congress on the administration’s plans to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

Asked whether he would declare war on the cartels, Trump said he would continue individual attacks. “I think we’re going to kill the people who bring drugs into our country, okay?” he said. “We’re going to kill them, you know they’re going to die.”