Rabia Iclal Turan
22 October 2025•Update: 22 October 2025
WASHINGTON
The US military struck another vessel alleged to be carrying drugs, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.
Hegseth said in a post on US social media platform X that the “lethal kinetic strike” was carried out at the direction of President Donald Trump against a boat “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.”
Hegseth said the vessel was traveling along a known “narco-trafficking transit route” and two “narco-terrorists” aboard were killed, which he said took place in international waters. No US forces were harmed, he added.
“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,” Hegseth wrote.
He did not provide evidence to support the claim that the vessel was carrying narcotics or identify the group allegedly operating it.
The attack marks the latest US strike on suspected drug-trafficking boats as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against “narco-terrorism.”
Rights groups and legal experts have questioned the legality of the operations, arguing that US strikes on drug cartels are pushing the bounds of international law.
