US forces attack a drug ship traveling in the eastern Pacific, Hegseth says

The US military Another attack on a suspected drug vessel, this time in the eastern Pacific, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s strike against boats allegedly carrying drugs is the eighth such strike by the Trump administration. The previous seven occurred in the Caribbean.

“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a deadly attack on a narcotics-trafficking vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in the eastern Pacific. The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illegal narcotics trafficking, as well as transporting narcotics,” Hegseth said.

“During the strike in international waters, two suspected terrorists were on board. Both terrorists were killed and no US troops were harmed in the strike,” he added.

Hegseth says

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Sunday that on Friday, October 17, 2025, three alleged narco-terrorists were killed in a US raid on a drug-smuggling ship affiliated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army. (War Department)

Earlier this week, Hegseth announced that three alleged narco-terrorists had been killed in a US raid on a drug-smuggling ship affiliated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army.

The “lethal kinetic strike” took place on Friday in international waters on the orders of the President Donald TrumpHegseth wrote in a post on X.

“Through our intelligence the vessel was engaged in illegal drug trafficking, traveling along known drug-trafficking routes and transporting large quantities of narcotics,” Hegseth wrote. “There were three male narco-terrorists on board during the strike – which was conducted in international waters.”

All three terrorists were killed in the attack and no harm was done to the US forces, he added.

3 Oct. Video footage from 2025 shows what Hegseth described as “a deadly, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with designated terrorist organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of ​​responsibility.” (SecWar/X)

Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) is a Designated terrorist organization. Hegseth compared the Colombian rebel group to the al Qaeda terrorist group founded in Afghanistan by Osama bin Laden.

Trump Goes Against Colombia’s Petro After Claims Drug Strike Killed Fishermen: What We Know

The death toll from the Trump administration’s military operation against suspected drug-trafficking vessels has risen to at least 33. The operations began last month and are part of a broader crackdown on Trump. International cartels by force

Last Thursday, US forces attacked what Trump later called a “very large drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean. Two suspected law-terrorists killed and captured two others alive.

The United States has killed six alleged drug traffickers on a boat in international waters near Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced on October 14, 2025. (realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)

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Six suspected smugglers were killed Tuesday in a separate attack on a ship off the coast of Venezuela.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.