The US has conducted a strike in international waters in the Eastern Pacific against a vessel the Defense Department allegedly was engaged in narcotics smuggling.
"Today, at the direction of President (Donald) Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO)," pentagon chief Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X’s platform, referring to the rebranded name for the department.
US intelligence indicated that the vessel was involved in "illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics," Hegseth said.
No US forces were harmed in the strike, he said, adding two male "narco-terrorists" on board were killed.
"We will find and terminate every vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens. Protecting the homeland is our top priority. No cartel terrorist stands a chance against the American military," he said.
Tuesday’s strike is the latest in a series of US operations targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the region.
Washington has carried out more than a dozen similar strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since September, as part of President Trump’s campaign to curb narcotics smuggling into the United States.
