US forces killed 14 people in strikes that destroyed four suspected drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from Washington’s recent anti-narcotics campaign to at least 57.
Hegseth said the strikes, carried out the day before in international waters, targeted vessels “known by our intelligence apparatus” to be transiting established drug-trafficking routes and carrying narcotics. Video posted by the Pentagon showed two stationary boats—apparently moored together—being hit, followed by strikes on two other vessels moving at speed across open water.
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“A total of 14 narco-terrorists were killed during the three strikes, with one survivor. All strikes were in international waters with no US forces harmed,” Hegseth wrote on X. He added that US Southern Command immediately began a search for the lone survivor and that Mexican authorities “accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue.” He did not say whether the survivor had been found.
The strikes, which began in early September and have now destroyed at least 14 vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, have drawn controversy. Some legal experts and regional observers have questioned the legality of the operations in international waters.
The U.S. has also deployed a significant military presence in the region as part of its anti-drug campaign, including navy vessels and F-35 jets, and has ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the area. The buildup and the strikes have stoked tensions with several Latin American governments; Venezuela, in particular, has accused the United States of hostile intentions and suggested the military moves could be part of a wider plot against its government.
