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Two suspected drug smugglers on a vessel were killed during a U.S. military drone strike, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.
The “lethal kinetic strike” was ordered by President Donald Trump and conducted in international waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), Hegseth said.
The strike is the 16th since Trump began targeting drug smuggling boats suspected of transporting illegal drugs into the United States.
At least 63 suspected narco-terrorists have been killed in the strikes and three survived.
TRUMP’S WAR ON CARTELS ENTERS NEW PHASE AS EXPERTS PREDICT WHAT’S NEXT
President Donald Trump has targeted drug boats with military strikes. A 16th strike was conducted Tuesday. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social/AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth wrote on X.
He said no U.S. forces were harmed and that two male narco-terrorists — who were aboard the vessel — were killed.
“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens,” Hegseth wrote. “Protecting the homeland is our TOP priority. NO cartel terrorist stands a chance against the American military.”
The U.S. military has increased its presence across the Caribbean, deploying bombers, warships and Marines as part of an expanded campaign targeting drug-trafficking and so-called “narco-terrorist” networks operating near Venezuela.
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The Trump administration has created a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force operating near the U.S. Southern Command in an effort “to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.”
The task force will coordinate air, maritime and special-operations missions across the region — marking the largest U.S. military effort in the Caribbean in decades.