US forces kill two in strike on alleged drug boat in the Pacific
The Pentagon has confirmed that US forces have hit another ship, this time allegedly carrying drugs, in Pacific Ocean waters.
Two people were killed on board, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth. No US forces were harmed.
Hegseth added that the ship was known to US intelligence and was believed to be carrying drugs along a known smuggling route in international waters.
The strike marks the eighth US attack on suspected drug boats since September 2; but the first attack in the Pacific.
Video of the attack shows a long, blue speedboat moving through the water before being hit by the US decree.
“Narco-terrorists seeking to establish themselves on our coasts will find no safe haven anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth wrote to X. “Just like Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people.”
“There will be no asylum or forgiveness; there will only be justice,” he added.
In a leaked memo sent recently to US lawmakers, the Trump administration said it had determined it was involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug trafficking organizations.
At least 36 people have been killed in American attacks on alleged drug boats, including a recent attack on a semi-submersible ship in the Caribbean.
The two men who survived last week’s strike were deported back to Colombia and Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian government later released the man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, citing lack of evidence of any crime. The other Colombian man is reportedly receiving treatment in hospital.
U.S. President Donald Trump and administration officials have repeatedly justified the attacks as counter-narcotics measures necessary to combat drug trafficking organizations, many of which have been designated terrorist organizations by the United States.
Citing a defense official, CBS reported that the attack took place in international waters near Colombia.
News of the strike comes amid rising tensions between the Trump administration and President Gustavo Petro’s Colombian government.
On Sunday, Trump accused Petro of being an “illegal drug leader” who “strongly encouraged massive drug production in areas large and small throughout Colombia.”
Trump added that the United States would no longer offer subsidies to Colombia, historically one of its closest allies in Latin America.
Both Colombia and key Pacific coastlines near the Equator are used to route drugs north to the United States, via Central America and Mexico, experts say.
U.S. estimates from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) show that the vast majority of cocaine bound for U.S. cities passes through the Pacific.
Drug seizures in the Caribbean, where most of the confirmed US attacks have occurred so far, make up a relatively small percentage of the total, but US officials have warned they are increasing.
To date, U.S. officials have provided few details about the identities of those killed in the attacks or which drug trafficking organizations they claimed to belong to.
Approximately 10,000 US troops, as well as dozens of military aircraft and ships, were deployed to the Caribbean as part of the operation.
