US forces have struck a second vessel alleged to be carrying drugs in the Pacific Ocean, amid an escalating US campaign against seaborne drug smuggling.
Three people were killed and no US forces were harmed in the strike on Wednesday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
He added that there was “no process, no judicial order” and urged the US to instead co-operate with Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking.
It is a far greater drug trafficking sea route than the Caribbean so, in that sense, this strike appears more consistent with the US justification.
At least 37 people have been killed in the US strikes on alleged drug boats, including a recent strike on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean.
As part of an intensifying US campaign against seaborne drug smuggling, US forces have hit a second ship suspected of transporting drugs in the Pacific Ocean.
“The strike on Wednesday killed three people and did not injure any US forces,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. Hours earlier, two people were killed when the US hit another boat in the Pacific.
The US launched strikes on ships near Colombia’s coast, which the government condemned as “like applying the death penalty in a territory that is not yours.”.
The majority of earlier attacks had taken place in the Caribbean, but Wednesday’s strikes were the first in Pacific waters.
“Day after day, these strikes will go on. These are not just drug traffickers; they are narco-terrorists who are destroying our cities and causing death,” Hegseth wrote on X.
A video that seems to depict a boat catching fire after being hit by a US bomb was included with the post.
After that, floating objects are spotted in the water, and then it looks like a second airstrike is aimed at them.
According to Mauricio Jaramillo, Colombia’s deputy foreign minister, the strikes were “disproportionate and outside international law.”.
There was “no possibility to defend themselves” for those on board, he said on the BBC’s Newsday program.
“No process, no judicial order” was added, and he urged the United States to work with Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking instead.
According to US President Donald Trump, he has the legal right to keep bombing boats in foreign waters, but if he decides to broaden the targets to include people on land, he may approach the US Congress.
He claimed that his administration was “totally prepared” to significantly escalate the anti-drug operations by bringing them onto land.
These strikes have spread into the Pacific Ocean, which is noteworthy. This strike seems to be more in line with the US justification because it is a much more important sea route for drug trafficking than the Caribbean.
It is still commonly held, nevertheless, that these strikes are intended to exert military pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela in addition to combating drug trafficking.
He has long been Donald Trump’s adversary and has accused him of operating a drug-trafficking organization, a charge he refutes.
The United States has struck suspected drug boats, including a semi-submersible ship in the Caribbean, killing at least 37 people.
Two men were returned to Ecuador and Colombia after surviving that strike last week.
Later, Ecuador’s government declared that there was no proof of wrongdoing and freed its national, who was identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño. The other Colombian man is reportedly still in the hospital.
