A new US strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat has killed two people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
“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 in a post on X on Wednesday.
“There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no US forces were harmed in this strike,” Hegseth said about Tuesday’s action.
The post was accompanied by a video showing a speedboat half-filled with packages moving fast along the water before being hit by a projectile. The boat is then seen engulfed in flames floating on the water.
First attack on alleged drug smugglers in the Pacific
The administration of began to deploy stealth warplanes and Navy ships in September as part of what it says are efforts to counter drug trafficking to the .
Tuesday’s attack in the eastern Pacific, which spans the west coast of the Americas, marks a shift in the campaign.
Previous US strikes targeted vessels in the Caribbean to the east of Central America.
Most of the cocaine smuggled into the US crosses overland into the country from , according to the US Justice Department.
But it mostly arrives in Mexico from Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producer, via the Eastern Pacific rather than via the Caribbean.
Are the US strikes on boats in international waters legal?
This is the eighth US strike on alleged drug smugglers since September, which have left at least 34 people dead.
Numerous legal experts and rights groups have criticized the summary killings, saying they are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.
On Tuesday, UN experts said the “use of lethal force in international waters without proper legal basis violates the international law of the sea.”
It “amounts to extrajudicial executions,” the experts said in a statement by the UN’s human rights office OHCHR.
The Trump administration has said the strikes are legitimate. It has declared Latin American drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and terrorist groups who must be met with military force.
US strikes ramp up regional tensions
The US strikes have fueled tensions with countries in the region.
This is especially the case with , where the buildup of US forces has sparked fears that .
The US accuses Maduro of heading a drug cartel.
The US has massively increased its presence in the Caribbean to some 10,000 troops as well as dozens of military aircraft and warships.
Last week, .
Meanwhile, a public feud between Trump and ‘s leftist leader Gustavo Petro intensified in recent weeks over the Republican president’s deadly anti-drug campaign.
, the world’s leading cocaine producer, and branded Petro as an “illegal drug dealer.”
Colombia on Monday recalled its ambassador to the United States.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
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