US maintains its anti-drug offensive: new attack in the Pacific leaves four 'narco-terrorists' dead

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, announced Wednesday that the U.S. War Department conducted a new "lethal kinetic strike" on orders from President Donald Trump against a vessel linked to drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean, leaving four men dead. This is the fourteenth known attack in recent months as part of the U.S. military offensive against drug trafficking and terrorist networks in the Western Hemisphere.

In a statement released on X, Hegseth explained:

"Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific. This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel—and killed—during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike."

"The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans. The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate," the secretary of war added.

The operation reinforces the "zero tolerance" approach pushed by Trump since his return to the White House, which marries the elements of military intelligence, naval deployment and coordination with security agencies to intercept speedboats and submarines used by criminal organizations in Latin America.

U.S. intelligence sources have linked several of the vessels neutralized in recent weeks to the Cartel de los Soles, a cocaine trafficking network allegedly run by senior military commanders of the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela. According to the same sources, part of the flow of narcotics out of the Caribbean and eastern Pacific is allegedly operated by factions allied to the Tren de Aragua (TDA), a transnational criminal group that has extended its operations from Venezuela to other countries in the region.

The recent attacks - some carried out in the Caribbean off the Venezuelan coast - are evidence of a doctrinal shift by the Pentagon, now called the "War Department," which under Hegseth's leadership has equated combating drug trafficking with counterterrorism. "We will treat the narcos like we treat Al Qaeda," the senior official said last week.

Meanwhile, Trump has hinted that the next targets could be land-based, saying the next step will undoubtedly be on the mainland. His administration maintains that Latin American narcoterrorism poses a direct threat to U.S. national security and that "the time for impunity is over."