US Strikes Suspected Drug Vessel in the Pacific

The U.S. military killed two alleged drug smugglers in a strike against a vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, an attack that expands the Trump administration's use of the military in its counter-narcotics campaign.

The strike is the first known U.S. military operation in the Pacific since President Donald Trump started a new military offensive against the drug trade that has led to at least seven strikes in the Caribbean and dramatically raised U.S. tensions with Venezuela and Colombia.

"The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics," Hegseth said, without providing evidence.

He posted a roughly 30-second video on X, which appeared to show a vessel traveling in the water before exploding.

The strikes in the Caribbean have killed at least 32 people, but the Trump administration has provided few details, such as how many alleged drugs the targeted vessels were carrying or what specific evidence it had to suggest they were carrying drugs.

Legal experts have questioned why the U.S. military is carrying out the strikes, instead of the Coast Guard, which is the main U.S. maritime law enforcement agency, and why other efforts to halt the shipments are not made before resorting to deadly strikes.

The latest strike, which was first reported by CBS News, comes against the backdrop of a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and around 6,500 troops.

In August, the Coast Guard launched an operation, known as Operation Viper, to interdict drugs in the Pacific Ocean. As of October 15, the Coast Guard said it had seized more than 100,000 pounds of cocaine.

It was unclear why the administration carried out a strike in this instance instead of interdicting the vessel.

Last week, Reuters was first to report that two alleged drug traffickers survived a U.S. military strike in the Caribbean. They were rescued and brought to a U.S. Navy warship before being repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador.

How many US strikes on boats near Venezuela have there been?

The U.S. has acknowledged carrying out at least seven strikes since September on vessels near Venezuela that it says were transporting drugs, killing at least 32 people.

The U.S. has described some of the victims as Venezuelans, while Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said others were from his country. In Trinidad, family members of one man believed killed in a strike have demanded proof he was a drug trafficker.

Venezuela's government has said the strikes are illegal, amount to murder and are an aggression against the country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has shored up his security powers and deployed tens of thousands of troops around the country, has also accused Donald Trump of seeking regime change, an allegation the U.S. president has downplayed.

Here is a list of the strikes:

SEPTEMBER 2 - The U.S. military killed 11 people in a strike on a vessel from Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal narcotics, Trump said, in the first known operation since his administration deployed warships to the southern Caribbean. The Venezuelan government later denied any of the 11 were members of the Tren de Aragua gang mentioned by Trump.

SEPTEMBER 15 - Trump said that the U.S. military carried out a strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel vessel heading to the U.S. He said three men were killed in the strike, adding that it occurred in international waters. Trump provided no evidence for his assertion that the boat was carrying drugs.

SEPTEMBER 19 - Trump said the U.S. attacked a vessel carrying drugs, killing three men.

OCTOBER 3 - The U.S. killed four people in a strike against a vessel allegedly carrying illegal drugs just off the coast of Venezuela, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

OCTOBER 14 - A U.S. strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela killed six suspected drug traffickers, Trump said.

OCTOBER 16 - The U.S. military carried out another strike in the Caribbean, killing two people. In the first case of its kind, there were survivors, a Colombian and an Ecuadorean, who were swiftly returned to their home countries. Ecuador has since said it has no evidence to detain its citizen and he has been released.

OCTOBER 17 - Hegseth said a strike killed three people. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who is involved in a spat with Trump which escalated this week, disputed a claim by the U.S. defense secretary that the boat belonged to the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, saying instead it was the property of a "humble family". The ELN has also disputed Hegseth's claim.

(Reuters)