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The United States carried out a precision strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in international waters off the Pacific coast of South America, marking the eighth such operation since September 2, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday (local time). “This was a lethal kinetic strike, directed by President Trump, on a vessel operated by a designated terrorist organisation conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth said in a post on X, also sharing a video of the operation. According to CBS News, the vessel was located off Colombia’s coast and was transiting along a known smuggling corridor. Hegseth said intelligence confirmed the boat was carrying narcotics and that two “narco-terrorists” on board were killed. “The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling… Both terrorists were killed and no US forces were harmed in this strike,” he stated, underscoring the administration’s zero-tolerance policy toward drug cartels. Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific. The vessel was known by our intelligence to be… pic.twitter.com/BayDhUZ4Ac — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 22, 2025 The strike marks the first US attack on the Pacific side of South America, with the previous seven operations taking place in the Caribbean. CBS News reported that at least 34 people have been killed in recent US strikes on alleged drug boats. The Trump administration has defended the escalating campaign, telling Congress that the US is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, arguing that narcotics trafficking has claimed tens of thousands of American lives and constitutes an “armed attack” on the nation. In a separate statement, President Donald Trump accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of facilitating the narcotics trade, calling him “an illegal drug leader.” “It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “As of today, these payments or any other form of subsidies will no longer be made to Colombia.” The US strike campaign, now expanding across both the Caribbean and Pacific zones, represents a significant escalation in Washington’s declared war on international narco-terror networks.
