The United States says it carried out another pair of military strikes on vessels it claims were drug-smuggling boats in international waters of the eastern Pacific, killing six people.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Monday the attacks occurred on Sunday and targeted two boats “known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and were transiting along a known narco‑trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific.” He added that “both strikes were conducted in international waters, and three male narco‑terrorists were aboard each vessel. All six were killed. No US forces were harmed.”
The strikes are the fourth this month as Washington steps up a campaign that began in the Caribbean in September and has since expanded into the Pacific. US authorities say previous strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean killed at least eight people, and officials say 18 vessel strikes in total have killed dozens.
The Trump administration has characterized the operations as “counterterrorism” actions after designating drug cartels as terrorists. Hegseth framed the campaign as protecting the homeland, saying they are “killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people.”
Critics and rights bodies have sharply condemned the attacks. United Nations rights chief Volker Türk said last month the strikes have no justification under international law, calling them “unacceptable” and urging the US to halt actions that risk extrajudicial killings regardless of alleged criminal conduct.
Beyond grainy footage released by the US, officials have not provided concrete public evidence that the targeted vessels were carrying drugs. Observers have questioned why US forces would not wait to intercept suspect boats when they enter a country’s territorial waters rather than conducting lethal strikes in international waters.
The campaign has heightened regional tensions, particularly with Venezuela. The US has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of ties to “narcoterrorists,” and the buildup of strikes near Venezuelan waters has prompted speculation that Washington could be preparing for broader confrontation. President Trump has said war with Venezuela is unlikely but suggested Maduro’s “days are numbered.”
