The US military carried out three strikes on four vessels allegedly involved in narcotics trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on X on Tuesday.
Hegseth said the operations were ordered by President Donald Trump and took place in international waters. He said intelligence had identified the vessels as transiting known narco-trafficking routes and carrying narcotics.
“Eight male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessels during the first strike. Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the second strike. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the third strike,” Hegseth wrote.
“A total of 14 narco-terrorists were killed during the three strikes, with one survivor. All strikes were in international waters with no U.S. forces harmed.”
Following the attacks, US forces launched a search-and-rescue mission for the lone survivor; Mexican maritime authorities later took responsibility for coordinating the rescue effort, officials said.
Hegseth did not release details about the survivor’s condition or whereabouts.
The strikes form part of a broader campaign the Trump administration has carried out since early September against groups it describes as “narco-terrorist networks.”
The campaign, which has included other strikes and the destruction of boats and aircraft suspected of smuggling, has resulted in more than 50 deaths in Caribbean and Pacific operations, the Pentagon says.
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The Pentagon has also deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Caribbean in support of the campaign. The carrier, which carries stealth fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, was repositioned from the Mediterranean to waters off Venezuela, officials said.
The strikes and the carrier deployment have drawn domestic and international attention. Lawmakers have pressed the administration for more details about the legal authorisation for the operations, the procedures used to identify and target vessels, and the measures taken to limit civilian harm.
Hegseth described the campaign as a shift in focus. “These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same,” he said on X. “We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them.”
Officials have not provided independent confirmation of the casualty figures, and questions remain about the operations’ legal basis and the steps taken to verify targets and prevent non-combatant deaths.
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