The United States has carried out a second airstrike on a vessel allegedly transporting drugs in the Pacific Ocean, killing three people, as President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies its campaign against maritime narcotics trafficking.
The strike, confirmed on Wednesday by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, followed a similar operation a day earlier that left two people dead. Both vessels were targeted along established trafficking routes in international waters, Hegseth said.
In a statement on X, Hegseth said the operation was conducted “at the direction of President Trump” and described the targets as “narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities.”
“These strikes will continue, day after day,” he wrote, adding that the boats were linked to a designated terrorist organisation.
The latest assault marks the eighth and ninth strikes since early September on vessels suspected of smuggling narcotics, but it is the first time US forces have carried out such attacks in Pacific waters. Previous strikes were concentrated in the Caribbean Sea, where Washington says drug shipments bound for the US have surged.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump defended his authority to order the attacks in international waters and suggested he could expand operations to land targets.
“We’re allowed to do that, and if we do it by land, we may go back to Congress,” Trump said. “We’re totally prepared.”
The president described the campaign as part of a “broader effort to destroy global drug cartels” and hinted that future operations could target logistics hubs or coastal facilities used by traffickers.
According to Pentagon figures, at least 37 people have been killed in the recent US strikes on alleged drug boats, including one attack on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean earlier this month. Two survivors from a separate incident were later repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
The escalation has heightened diplomatic friction between Washington and Bogotá. Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticised the US strikes. “He better watch it or we’ll take very serious action against him and his country,” Trump said earlier this week. “He has led his country into a death trap.”
Estimates from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) indicate that most cocaine destined for American cities now travels via Pacific routes, while seizures in the Caribbean account for a smaller but rising share.
A statement from Ecuador’s government last week confirmed that one of the survivors, Andrés Fernando Tufiño, had been released due to lack of evidence of wrongdoing. The second survivor, a Colombian national, remains hospitalised.
Military analysts have described the campaign as one of the most aggressive US counter-narcotics operations in decades. Around 10,000 troops, supported by aircraft and naval vessels, have been deployed across both the Caribbean and Pacific theatres.
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Africa Digital News, New York
