The United States military has carried out another strike against a vessel allegedly involved in drug trafficking, this time in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that two people aboard the targeted speedboat were killed, while no American personnel were harmed.
Hegseth said the vessel was known to US intelligence and was navigating a well-established drug trafficking route in international waters. “Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth wrote on X. “There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”
This latest action marks the eighth US strike on suspected drug boats since September 2, and the first confirmed operation in the Pacific, following a string of similar missions in the Caribbean. Footage released by the Pentagon appears to show a long, blue speedboat moving through open waters before being destroyed by precision US ordnance.
According to reports, at least 36 people have been killed in these American strikes, including recent attacks on semi-submersible vessels. Two survivors from last week’s strike were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador. Ecuador later released one man, citing insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, while the Colombian national remains hospitalized.
The Trump administration has justified the military operations as part of a broader counter-narcotics campaign, classifying drug cartels as terrorist organizations. A leaked memo revealed that the US considers itself engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with these groups.
The operation also comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Colombia. President Donald Trump recently accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of promoting drug production and announced an end to US subsidies to Bogotá.
Analysts note that both Colombia and Ecuador’s Pacific coastlines serve as major drug routes toward the United States, with the DEA estimating that most cocaine bound for the US travels through the Pacific corridor.
