The U.S. conducted three more strikes on suspected drug boats in the eastern Pacific, killing eight suspected drug traffickers.
The strikes were announced on Monday, the same day they were carried out, alongside declassified video footage. The vessels were said to have been operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking. A total of eight male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions—three in the first vessel, two in the second and three in the third,” a statement from U.S. Southern Command said.
The strikes were the first since Dec. 4, when four suspected drug traffickers were killed in a single strike.
The Monday strikes bring the total number of confirmed boat strikes to 25, killing 94 people.
In an interview last week, Trump said each boat strike saves an average of 25,000 American lives. The strikes became the center of national controversy after a Washington Post report revealed that a follow-up strike had been conducted to kill two survivors of the first strike, conducted in September.
Trump has brushed off the controversy, going further to say he was considering using lethal force against targets in other countries where the drug trade is active, such as Mexico and Colombia.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has also doubled down on the strikes, denouncing the “fake news… delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”
US KILLS FOUR SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN FIRST VESSEL STRIKE SINCE ‘DOUBLE TAP’ REPORT
“As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes.’ The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization,” Hegseth said.
There have been calls for the Pentagon chief to testify on the legality of the strikes, but the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee felt there was no need to question Hegseth after briefings from Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the commander who oversaw the strikes.
