The US military carried out another airstrike against a suspected drug cartel ship, the second ship attacked in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in as many days.
The latest attack was announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a social media post on Wednesday that also included video of the attack, which he said took place in international waters earlier that day.
Hegseth alleged the ship was carrying narcotics and said three men were killed in the attack.
“These strikes will continue day after day,” Hegseth wrote. “These are not simply drug dealers, they are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities,” he said in the post.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on his
@SegundaGuerra/X
According to a government report, 37 people have been killed in nine known U.S. attacks on suspected drug vessels since early September.
Two people survived and were returned by the US Navy to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia. The survivor sent to Ecuador has been released, according to the country’s authorities
Hegseth called the drug cartels the “al Qaeda of our hemisphere” and said they “will not escape justice.”
The US military carried out a previous attack in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, US officials said.
That attack occurred in waters west of Central America, according to a U.S. official.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on his
@SegundaGuerra/X
Hegseth also posted a video of that attack on social media early Wednesday. Hegseth confirmed that the attack killed two people and took place in the Eastern Pacific. He wrote that no American forces were injured in the attack.
All previous attacks had taken place in the Caribbean Sea.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the operation has reduced the number of vessels trying to smuggle drugs into the United States and that smugglers will now try to smuggle drugs over land. “And we will hit them very hard when they come overland and they haven’t experienced it yet,” he said.
Trump said that if the operation were to include ground targets, the White House would “probably” go to Congress and explain what it is doing, but he said, “we don’t have to do that.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks before a lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Oct. 17, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
The use of lethal military force against suspected drug traffickers is unprecedented and has raised legal questions. Previous administrations relied on law enforcement to intercept drug shipments. The Trump administration has defended the attacks as part of what it said is a “war” against cartels.
“They have faster boats. Some of these boats are seriously, I mean, they’re world-class fast boats, but they’re not faster than missiles,” Trump said last week.
