US forces have killed 14 people in strikes on four alleged drug boats in the Pacific, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says.
He said one survivor was rescued by Mexican search and rescue personnel.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on boats the US says have been carrying drugs in both the Pacific and Caribbean.
The latest strikes in the eastern Pacific, which Hegseth said happened on Monday at the direction of President Donald Trump, mark an escalation in what it says is a campaign to target drug traffickers.The strikes have drawn condemnation in the region and experts have questioned their legality. Members of the US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have also raised concerns and questioned the president’s authority to order them.
At least 57 people have now been killed in the strikes, which has led to increasing tensions between the US and the governments of both Colombia and Venezuela.
Most strikes have taken place off the coast of South America, in the Caribbean, but more recently it has carried out attacks in the Pacific Ocean as well.
In a statement on X, Hegseth said the four vessels hit on Monday “were known by our intelligence apparatus, transitioning along known narco-trafficking routes and carrying narcotics”.
Hegseth added that eight “narco-terrorists” were killed in the first strike. Four and three were killed in the following two strikes.
One person survived the strikes. According to Hegseth, Mexican search-and-rescue authorities “accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue.”
The condition of the survivor or his current whereabouts are unclear.
Hegseth’s post included videos that show several vessels catching fire after being struck by US munitions.
“The department has spent over two decades defending other homelands,” he wrote. “Now, we’re defending our own.”
At least four of the strikes have so far taken place in the Pacific, which is a far more significant drug-trafficking corridor, with the rest taking place in the Caribbean.
