4 Killed In Latest US Strike On Alleged Drug Boat: Hegseth

Four people were killed during the latest airstrike carried out by the United States military targeting an alleged drug boat, which took place in the Eastern Pacific on Wednesday (October 29), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed in a post shared on his X account.

"Earlier today, at the direction of President [Donald] Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific," Hegseth wrote on his 'Secretary of War' account, along with an 'unclassified' video. "This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel—and killed—during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike. The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans. The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate."

The strike was the latest among 14 carried out by the United States military targeting alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean since September 2, which has totaled 60 deaths. On Monday (October 27), Hegseth announced that 14 people were killed during an airstrike against four alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific.

The strikes have come amid heightened tension between the Trump administration and the governments of Colombia and Venezuela.