Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday that the U.S. military eliminated 14 alleged drug traffickers in a series of attacks on four suspected drug-carrying vessels within the Eastern Pacific.
“All strikes occurred in international waters with no U.S. forces sustaining harm,” Hegseth further stated, indicating that President Trump had ordered the operations targeting “Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) involved in narcotics trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.”
“Our intelligence agencies had identified the four vessels, which were traveling along established narco-trafficking routes and transporting narcotics. Eight male narco-terrorists were present on the vessels during the initial strike,” Hegseth reported.
“Four male narco-terrorists were on board the vessel during the subsequent strike. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the third operation. In total, 14 narco-terrorists lost their lives across the three strikes, with a single survivor,” he further elaborated.
“Concerning the survivor, USSOUTHCOM promptly commenced standard Search and Rescue (SAR) procedures; Mexican SAR authorities accepted jurisdiction and took charge of coordinating the rescue efforts,” Hegseth also mentioned.
“The Department has dedicated more than two decades to defending other nations. Now, we are safeguarding our own. These narco-terrorists have claimed more American lives than Al-Qaeda, and they will receive identical treatment. We will track them, we will establish networks against them, and subsequently, we will pursue and eliminate them,”
According to officials, dozens of suspected drug traffickers have been eliminated since September 2, when the Trump administration initiated operations targeting vessels allegedly transporting drugs.
Many of these strikes have occurred in the
Hegseth had previously declared on Friday that, under President Trump’s directive, the “Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), identified as a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), involved in narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean Sea.”
“Six male narco-terrorists were present on the vessel during that strike, which was executed in international waters — and marked the first nighttime operation,” Hegseth stated on Friday. “All six terrorists were eliminated, and no U.S. forces suffered harm in this particular strike.”