The United States has struck another suspected narcotics boat traveling on international waters, this time in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Two known narco-terrorists were killed in the operation on Tuesday night, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The Trump administration’s seven previous strikes all targeted vessels in the Caribbean.
The secretary also shared a brief video to social media showing the targeted operation.
The vessel was carrying narcotics and was known by U.S. intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, Hegseth said. It was traveling along a known drug-trafficking transit route.
No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.
“Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” the secretary said. “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.”
President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and is relying on the same legal authority used by President George W. Bush’s administration when it declared a war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attack.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
