US Military Conducted Lethal Strike On Boat In Pacific Against Drug Trafficking: Defense Secretary

Last Updated:October 23, 2025, 01:45 IST

The US military, directed by Trump, struck a narco-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two terrorists. Pete Hegseth defended the action as vital for US security

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Reuters Image)

The US military has conducted lethal strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific, killing both people on board, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.

In a post on X, Hegseth said: “Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific."

“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics. There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no US forces were harmed in this strike," he further said.

“Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice, the War Secretary added.

The strike on the vessel in Pacific was the eight strike by the US military since September. The defence secretary also shared a video of the strike.

Last week, the US hit at least two vessels in the Caribbean. The US repatriated the survivors back to theirs home countries of Ecuador and Colombia.

According to CNN, the Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion seeking to justify lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers.

The United States has said that it has killed 27 drug smugglers so far, without providing evidence.

The Trump administration has asserted that killing suspected drug smugglers — rather than having the Coast Guard interdict boats and arrest people aboard them if suspicions of drug smuggling proved accurate — is consistent with the laws of war, according to The New York Times.

Hegseth has repeatedly defended the strikes, calling them necessary to protect US lives.

News world US Military Conducted Lethal Strike On Boat In Pacific Against Drug Trafficking: Defense Secretary

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