US says it killed four ‘terrorists’ in latest strike on alleged drug vessel

Four men were killed when the White House claimed four days after confirming it had killed 14 people in three separate attacks on ships in the area when it was revealed that American forces had bombed another alleged drug smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

In a post on X late on Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed that the “Department of War,” the newly renamed Department of Defense, had “carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel.”

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According to Hegseth, “four male narco-terrorists” were killed aboard the vessel, which was being “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.” Although he did not specify the exact location of the attack, he claimed it took place in eastern Pacific ocean waters.

Hegseth posted aerial footage of the strike, noting that “like all the others, our intelligence knew that this vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,” adding that “it was transiting along a known narcotics trafficking route and carrying narcotics.”

None of the victims of the attack on Wednesday have been identified.

The Department of War launched a lethal kinetic attack on yet another narco-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific earlier today, under the president’s orders, at the direction of the president.

Our ship was known by our… picture, just like the rest of the ship. twitter.com/mBOLA5RYQe

US President Donald Trump was traveling through Asia with three nations at the time of the strike. Trump and Xi Jinping, their first summit since 2019, met in South Korea on Thursday. Before South Korea, Trump also traveled to Malaysia and Japan.

Hegseth claimed earlier this week that US forces had attacked boats suspected of distributing illegal narcotics three times on Monday. One survivor of the attacks, which also occurred in the eastern Pacific Ocean, was reported to have lost 14 lives.

Hegseth claimed that the Department has “dedicated over TWO DECADES defending other homelands” following the strikes. We are now defending our rights.

In the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, the US military has launched at least 14 strikes on at least 15 maritime vessels since September 2.

The two-month-long campaign, which also saw the US increase its military presence in the Caribbean to unusually high levels, has confirmed the deaths of at least 61 people.

The White House has not yet provided any supporting evidence to the public regarding any of the strikes.

The Trump administration claims that the alleged drug traffickers are “unlawful combatants” in a “non-international armed conflict,” and that the strikes are a “non-international armed conflict.”

The unilateral strikes are viewed as extrajudicial killing and a violation of international law, which largely forbids nations from using lethal military force against non-combatants outside of a conflict zone.