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US forces have struck another vessel believed to be carrying drugs, this time in Pacific waters, the Pentagon has confirmed.
According to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, two people on board the ship died. No US forces were injured.
The vessel was known to US intelligence and was believed to be carrying drugs on a known trafficking route in international waters, Hegseth added.
The strike marked the eighth U.S. strike against suspected drug boats since Sept. 2 — but the first in the Pacific.
Video footage of the impact appears to show a long blue speedboat moving through the water before being struck by the US regulation.
“The narco-terrorists intent on gaining a foothold near our shores will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth wrote to X. “Just as al Qaeda is waging war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people.”
“There will be no asylum or forgiveness – only justice,” he added.
In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration said it had determined it was engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organizations.
At least 36 people have been killed in US strikes against suspected drug boats, including a recent strike on a semi-submersible in the Caribbean.
Two men survived a strike last week and were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian government later released him – identified as Andres Fernando Tufinho – saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing. The other man, from Colombia, reportedly remains in hospital.
US President Donald Trump and administration officials have repeatedly justified the strikes as counter-narcotics measures necessary to combat drug-trafficking organizations, some of which have been designated as terrorist organizations by the US.
Citing a defense official, CBS reported that the strike took place in international waters near Colombia.
News of the strike comes amid rising tensions between the Trump administration and the Colombian government of President Gustavo Petro.
On Sunday, Trump denounced Petro as an “illegal drug leader” who “strongly promotes the mass production of drugs, in fields large and small, throughout Colombia.”
Trump added that the US would no longer offer subsidies to Colombia, which has historically been one of its closest allies in Latin America.
Both Colombia and nearby Ecuador have significant Pacific coastlines that experts say are used to transport drugs north to the U.S. through Central America and Mexico.
Estimates by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, show that most of the cocaine destined for U.S. cities goes through the Pacific Ocean.
Drug seizures in the Caribbean – where the majority of confirmed US strikes have so far taken place – represent a relatively small percentage of the total, although US officials have warned that it is rising.
To date, U.S. officials have provided few details about the identities of those killed in the strikes or which drug-trafficking organizations they are believed to belong to.
About 10,000 US troops, as well as dozens of military aircraft and ships, have been deployed to the Caribbean as part of the operation.
