U.S. Strikes Ninth Suspected Narco-Terror Vessel; Three Killed, Pentagon Says

The U.S. military struck and destroyed another suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced, calling it the ninth such lethal strike in recent months.

Hegseth posted dramatic video footage of the attack on X and said three “narco?terrorists” aboard the boat were killed. The strikes, he vowed, will continue.

“These strikes will continue, day after day. These are not simply drug runners—these are narco?terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs [Drug Trafficking Organizations] are the ‘Al Qaeda’ of our hemisphere and will not escape justice. We will find them and kill them, until the threat to the American people is extinguished,” Hegseth wrote.

The Trump administration has concentrated the operations on vessels moving through Caribbean waters, while mounting diplomatic pressure on countries such as Venezuela and Colombia to crack down on trafficking. The U.S. has also authorized covert CIA operations targeting networks it says are linked to Venezuela’s government.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced the strikes as “a military attack on civilians” and accused Washington of trying to provoke regime change. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has likewise clashed with the U.S. over the campaign; last week he suggested, controversially, that it might be necessary to “get rid” of President Trump — a remark that prompted a sharp response from the White House.

President Trump defended the actions, saying a large portion of illegal drugs enter the U.S. through maritime routes originating near Venezuela and vowing to press the effort “by land also.” He warned that leaders who do not act “better watch it or we’ll take very serious action against him and his country,” according to remarks made to The Daily Wire.