(The Hill) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the United States military conducted another strike against an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four “narco-terrorists” on Wednesday.
Hegseth said the vessel was operated by a designated terrorist organization and was transiting along a “known narco-trafficking route.” It is unclear which designated terrorist organization the defense secretary is referring to.
The strike was conducted in international waters, and no U.S. forces were injured in the operation, according to Hegseth.
“The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans,” the defense secretary said in a Wednesday evening post on social platform X. “The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate.”
Hegseth shared a 22-second video of the military operation, showing the boat being blown up and erupting in flames.
The U.S. military, at the direction of President Donald Trump, has carried out strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in both the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific since early September. The U.S. forces have killed 61 people, according to the Trump administration.
The most recent string of attacks, which have prompted criticism from Democrats and some GOP lawmakers, took place on Tuesday with the U.S. military killing 14 “narco-terrorists,” in three strikes. One individual survived, according to Hegseth.
The military campaign comes as the U.S. government has turned up pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the administration has called an “illegitimate leader.”
The administration has accumulated a massive U.S. military presence in the Caribbean in recent weeks, dispatching spy planes, bombers, Marines and warships. Last week, the Defense Department ordered USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to head to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.
Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and the U.S. has at least 10,000 troops in the region supporting counternarcotics operations.
On Thursday, DOD officials will give a classified briefing to House Armed Services Committee lawmakers about the strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill on Wednesday.
The White House provided a classified briefing on the strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels on Wednesday evening to a select group of senators, including only some from the Senate Armed Services Committee, a Senate source told The Hill’s sister network NewsNation.
Several Senate Democrats are angry about not being invited to the briefing, which was not requested by one committee, the source added.
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