US Forces Target Alleged Drug Traffickers in Pacific Strike

Fri Oct 24 2025 04:24:38 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The Pentagon confirms a US military operation resulted in the death of two individuals aboard a suspected drug boat in international waters of the Pacific Ocean, highlighting ongoing counter-narcotics efforts.

In a recent military strike, US forces killed two people on an alleged drug boat in the Pacific Ocean, marking the first attack of its kind in this region. The Pentagon maintains that the attack is part of broader counter-narcotics operations against drug-trafficking organizations, with previous strikes concentrated in the Caribbean. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that those promoting drug trafficking will not find safe harbor in the hemisphere. The operations come amid rising tensions between the US and Colombia over drug production.

US forces have struck another vessel alleged to be carrying drugs, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon has confirmed.

According to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, two people on board the vessel were killed. No US forces were harmed.

The vessel was known to US intelligence and was believed to be carrying drugs along a known trafficking route in international waters, Hegseth added.

The strike marks the eighth US strike against suspected drug boats since September 2nd - but the first in the Pacific.

Video of the strike appears to show a long, blue speed boat moving through the water before being struck by US ordinance.

Narco-terrorists intending to bring position to our shores will find no safe harbour anywhere in our hemisphere, Hegseth wrote on X. Just as Al Qaeda wages war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people.

There will be no refuge or forgiveness - only justice, he added.

In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration stated it was involved in a non-international armed conflict with drug-trafficking organizations.

At least 34 people have been killed in the American strikes on alleged drug boats, including a recent strike on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean.

Two men survived a strike last week, and were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.

Ecuador's government later released one survivor identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, citing a lack of evidence of wrongdoing. The other survivor, from Colombia, reportedly remains hospitalized.

US President Donald Trump and administration officials have repeatedly justified the strikes as necessary counter-narcotics measures against drug-trafficking networks, some designated as terrorist organizations by the US.

Citing a defense official, CBS reported that the strike took place in international waters near Colombia.

This news follows rising tensions between the Trump administration and the Colombian government, led by President Gustavo Petro.

Trump criticized Petro as an illegal drug leader and accused him of promoting drug production throughout Colombia.

Both Colombia and Ecuador have extensive Pacific coastlines suspected of being used for drug trafficking towards the US through Central America and Mexico.

Estimates from the DEA suggest that the vast majority of cocaine headed for the US travels through the Pacific.

Drug seizures in the Caribbean, where most strikes have occurred, currently represent a small portion of overall trafficking, but this figure is rising.

To date, US officials have provided few details about the identities of those killed in the strikes or the drug trafficking organizations they may belong to.

About 10,000 US troops, as well as numerous military aircraft and ships, have been deployed in the Caribbean as part of these operations.