The U.S. military carried out another strike against an alleged drug vessel, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.
The military strike, which occurred on Tuesday, targeted a boat allegedly carrying narcotics along a route in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the death of two suspected terrorists, Hegseth confirmed in a social media post. The attack was the latest of its kind by the Trump administration, which has increasingly targeted suspected drug vessels operating in international waters. (RELATED: Pro-Democrat Unions Sue Over Trump Admin’s Crackdown On Illegal Migrant Truckers)
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific,” the Secretary of War stated.
“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics” he continued. “Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
The vessel was known by our intelligence to be… pic.twitter.com/BayDhUZ4Ac
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 22, 2025
The strike on Tuesday is the eighth known time the Trump administration has targeted suspected drug vessels in international waters, with the previous seven taking place in the Caribbean Ocean.
The War Department conducted a strike against a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, on Oct. 17 which killed three passengers on board, Hegseth announced earlier this week. He described the cartel organization as “the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere” and stated that the boat was allegedly carrying “substantial amounts” of narcotics at the time of the attack.
A suspected cartel boat was successfully obliterated off the coast of Venezuela on Oct. 3. The airstrike, which occurred under the U.S. Southern Command, killed all four males aboard the ship.
The increasing number of strikes against suspected drug boats follows the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and illicit drug flow into the country. President Donald Trump has successfully used the threat of tariffs to force both the Canadian and Mexican governments to beef up their border security and, in particular regard to the Mexican government, more seriously take on drug cartels.
In addition to tariff threats and designating a slate of cartels as terrorist organizations, the Trump administration even scrapped longtime tax exemptions on low-value packages in an effort to keep illicit drugs from entering the U.S.
“Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth stated Wednesday. “Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”
Not everyone in the international community is supportive of the Trump administration’s military campaign against suspected drug vessels. Colombia recalled its ambassador to the U.S. in response to the strikes — Ejército de Liberación Nacional is a leftist insurgency group in Colombia — and President Gustavo Petro publicly accused Trump of murder.
“Humanity has a first off-ramp, and it is to change Trump in various ways,” Petro stated Monday. “The easiest way may be through Trump himself, the easiest. If not, get rid of Trump.”
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