US expands anti-drug campaign, sinks two narco-boats in Pacific leaving five "narco-terrorists" dead

The United States on Wednesday expanded its counternarcotics campaign by sinking two vessels in the Eastern Pacific in strikes that, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, left five suspected "narco-terrorists" dead, two in the first strike ordered yesterday and three in another carried out today.

Both events, Hegseth announced in X, occurred in international waters and, according to the War Department, the vessels were transiting known drug trafficking routes. U.S. troops were not harmed in any way during the attacks.

"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," Hegseth tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice."

In the announcement of the second attack, released later in the evening, Hegseth again compared regional drug cartels to Al Qaeda. In recent months, the Trump administration has designated Mexican cartels, the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua, the Cartel de los Soles (linked to Nicolas Maduro's regime), Colombian guerrillas, and other irregular groups as terrorist organizations.

"Our intelligence, to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route and was carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed, and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike," the Secretary of War said of the second attack.

"These strikes will continue, day after day. These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs are the 'Al Qaeda' of our hemisphere and will not escape justice. We will find them and kill them, until the threat to the American people is extinguished."

The expansion of U.S. military operations into the Pacific marks a leap from previous operations in the Caribbean. Since early September, the White House has acknowledged the destruction of at least eight vessels—including a semi-submersible—and more than 30 people killed in a series of counternarcotics raids.

US authorities have linked several of these boats to networks with connections in Venezuela; the Trump Administration maintains that groups like the Aragua Train and other criminal organizations, such as the Los Soles Cartel, operate from Venezuelan ports and coasts, an argument that serves as a framework for military and covert operations in the region.

In at least one of the recent attacks, the Pentagon identified the vessel as linked to the ELN, a Colombian guerrilla group, and confirmed that three people were killed in that episode.

While the attacks on the seas continue at an accelerated pace, Trump has already announced that the next step of the counter-narcotics operation is to go on land, in foreign territory. According to various reports, there is already a plan to attack targets in Venezuelan territory, a decision that would undoubtedly elevate the conflict by putting all the pressure on the shoulders of dictator Nicolas Maduro, who warned on Wednesday that the Venezuelan Army has 5,000 Russian anti-aircraft missiles to counter aggressions.