US forces have struck another vessel alleged to be carrying drugs, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon has confirmed.
The strike marks the eighth US strike against suspected drug boats since 2 September – but the first in the Pacific.
Video of the strike appears to show a long, blue speed boat moving through the water before being struck by US ordinance.
At least 34 people have been killed in the American strikes on alleged drug boats, including a recent strike on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean.
Citing a defence official, CBS has reported that the strike took place in international waters near Colombia.
According to the Pentagon, US forces have hit another ship that is suspected of transporting drugs, this time in Pacific Ocean waters.
Two people on board the ship were killed, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. There was no damage to US forces.
According to Hegseth, US intelligence was aware of the ship and suspected it was transporting drugs along a well-traveled trafficking route in international waters.
The attack is the first in the Pacific and the eighth US strike against suspected drug boats since September 2.
A long, blue speed boat appears to be seen traveling through the water on the strike video before being struck by a US ordinance.
“There is no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere for narco-terrorists who want to arrive on our shores,” Hegseth wrote on X. “These cartels are fighting against our border and our people in the same way that Al Qaeda fights against our homeland.”. “,”.
“There will be no forgiveness or sanctuary – only justice,” he continued.
According to a recently leaked memo sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration concluded that it was engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with organizations that traffic in drugs.
American strikes on suspected drug boats have killed at least 34 people, including a recent attack on a semi-submersible ship in the Caribbean.
Following a strike last week, two men were returned to Ecuador and Colombia.
Later, Ecuador’s government freed him, identifying himself as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, claiming there was no proof of any wrongdoing. It is said that the other Colombian man is still in the hospital.
The strikes have been repeatedly justified by US President Donald Trump and administration officials as counter-narcotics measures required to combat drug-trafficking organizations, some of which the US has designated as terrorist organizations.
CBS reported that the strike happened in international waters close to Colombia, citing a defense official.
The strike comes as tensions between President Gustavo Petro’s Colombian government and the Trump administration are on the rise.
The “illegal drug leader” Petro is “strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia,” according to Trump’s Sunday denunciation. “,”.
The United States will no longer provide Colombia, which has long been one of its closest allies in Latin America, with subsidies, Trump continued.
According to experts, the Pacific coastlines of Colombia and neighboring Ecuador are used to transport drugs northward through Mexico and Central America to the United States.
According to estimates from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the United States, the majority of cocaine that is headed for American cities travels through the Pacific.
Although US officials have warned that the number is increasing, drug seizures in the Caribbean, where the majority of confirmed US strikes have occurred thus far, make up a comparatively small portion of the total.
The identities of the people killed in the strikes and the drug trafficking organizations they are alleged to have belonged to have not been disclosed by US officials to date.
As part of the effort, dozens of military ships and planes have been sent to the Caribbean, along with about 10,000 US troops.
