The U.S. military has killed another four suspected drug traffickers in the eastern Pacific Ocean as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to “hunt them down and eliminate them.”
Since early September, the Trump administration has targeted boats in the Pacific and Caribbean that it claims have been smuggling drugs into the U.S. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon has publicly shared any evidence that these boats are being operated by drug cartels.
Hegseth announced the latest strikes in an X post Wednesday night.
“Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote.
On Monday, Hegseth announced that Trump directed three other strikes on alleged drug boats that killed at least 14 people.
“This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said of Wednesday’s attack.
Hegseth said four “naro-terrorists” were killed in the latest strike and no U.S. forces were harmed. In total, more than 60 people have been killed in the attacks since September 2, ABC News reports.
Last month, the Trump administration declared the U.S. is formally engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that the president has labeled “unlawful combatants,” according to a notice to members of Congress.
The notice claims cartels are “nonstate armed groups” whose actions “constitute an armed attack against the United States.”
“The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans,” Hegseth warned. “The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate.”
The Trump administration’s nearly two-month campaign in the waters off South America, along with its buildup of U.S. military forces in the region, has fueled speculation that the moves are aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. has accused of narcoterrorism.
The House Armed Services Committee will be briefed on the strikes Thursday by Pentagon officials, per Axios.
During a press conference Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said: “We’ll see whether the administration can finally come forward with evidence as to the nature of the people being killed, their connection to the drug trade, and what legal authority does the administration have to engage in what some have characterized as extrajudicial killings.”
An official from the Trump administration said Monday it has already provided seven separate classified briefings on the strikes to Congress.
“The administration provided Congress seven separate classified briefings since early September, covering members or staff from House leadership, Senate leadership, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, and the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees,” a senior Trump official told CNN.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
