Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced that the US military on Wednesday attacked another boat carrying people he said were narco-terrorists.
The attacks were carried out in the eastern Pacific at the direction of President Donald Trump, killing four men on board, according to Hegseth.
The military “conducted a deadly kinetic attack on yet another drug trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X.
“This vessel, like all others, was known to our intelligence services to be involved in the illicit smuggling of narcotics, sailing along a known narcotics trafficking route and transporting narcotics,” he said. “Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the ship – and were killed – during the attack, which was carried out in international waters. No U.S. troops were injured in this attack.”
The US attacks another suspected drug trafficking boat near Venezuela, killing 4
(Secretary of War Pete Hegseth via X)
“The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists who bring drugs to our shores to poison Americans,” Hegseth added. “The War Department will continue to hunt down and eliminate them wherever they operate.”
This is the fourteenth attack on suspected drug boats since September. A total of 61 people are reported to have been killed, while three survived, including at least two who were later repatriated to their home countries.
The Pentagon has declined to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board.
US DEploys FORD CARRIER STRIKE GROUP TO FIGHT NARCO TERROR IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced that the US military has attacked another boat carrying what he said were narco-terrorists. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The Trump administration has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for the strikes, including from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who expressed concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.
Paul cited Coast Guard statistics showing that a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to start a war with Venezuela after attacking boats it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it should seek a declaration of war from Congress.
The Pentagon has declined to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board. (Reuters)
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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also wrote a letter Wednesday demanding a review of the legal justification behind the series of boat attacks that they say appear to violate several laws.
“Drug trafficking is a terrible crime that has had devastating consequences for American families and communities and must be prosecuted. Nevertheless, the President’s actions to hold alleged drug traffickers accountable must still comply with the law,” the letter said.
