The strike on the vessel in the Pacific, the 8th known strike by the US military on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel since the start of September, appears to mark an expansion of the US military campaign, with all seven previous strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean Sea. CNN reported.
At least 34 people in total have been killed in the eight strikes, officials have said.
Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth said on X Wednesday.
Hegseth said the boat targeted in the Pacific was “being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific” and “was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics.”
The secretary added that no US forces were hurt in the strike and compared the traffickers to al Qaeda.
“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,” he wrote.
