The United States military has killed two men in a strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel operating in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday.
In a post on X, Hegseth said that intelligence had confirmed the vessel was “involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”
The defense chief shared an 18-second video clip showing a small boat moving across the water moments before it is struck by a missile and explodes in a fiery blast.
Hegseth did not specify which U.S. military branch carried out the operation or provide further details about the type or quantity of drugs on board. It was also unclear which country the vessel or its crew originated from.
The strike marks the latest U.S. operation targeting maritime drug trafficking networks in the Pacific, where smugglers often use small, low-profile vessels, sometimes semi-submersible, to transport cocaine and other narcotics from South America toward North America and Asia.
Hegseth’s announcement follows similar U.S. actions in recent months against suspected drug vessels, part of what officials describe as a broader campaign to disrupt transnational criminal networks operating across the Pacific and Caribbean trafficking routes.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
