Frame from a video published by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, which shows two boats moments before being hit by a missile, in the Pacific Ocean, on Monday. In the publication, Hegseth reveals that, in addition to those boats, US military forces attacked two others, killing 14 people. (Pete Hegseth/X)
The US military launched attacks on four more boats in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing 14 people aboard the vessels, with one survivor, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
It was the first time that multiple attacks were launched on the same day as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking. According to Hegseth, Mexican authorities took responsibility for coordinating the search and rescue of the lone survivor.
Mexican authorities did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
On Monday, three attacks were launched in the Pacific — with one hitting two boats at the same time — bringing to 13 the total number of attacks carried out by the US military against suspected drug trafficking boats since the beginning of September. To date, these operations have destroyed a total of 14 boats and killed 57 people — with three survivors in total. One of the last attacks destroyed two boats at the same time.
Last week, the US military carried out its first round of attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which appears to indicate an expansion of the Trump administration’s campaign, given that the previous seven attacks targeted boats in the Caribbean Sea.
According to Pete Hegseth, the boats targeted in the last three attacks were being “operated by designated terrorist organizations trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.”
“The four ships were known to our intelligence services, traveled along known drug trafficking routes and transported narcotics,” Hegseth added.
“Eight male narco-terrorists were on board the vessels during the first attack. Four male narco-terrorists were on board the vessel during the second attack. Three male narco-terrorists were on board the vessel during the third attack,” Hegseth wrote on social media site X. “All attacks occurred in international waters, without any US forces being harmed.
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.
The four vessels were known by our intelligence…
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar)
