The U.S. military carried out its eighth strike against an alleged drug-smuggling vessel, resulting in the deaths of two individuals, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.
The strike took place Tuesday night in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The seven previous operations had all targeted vessels in the Caribbean.
In a social media post, Hegseth confirmed that the latest strike killed two people, bringing the total death toll from all eight operations to at least 34.
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
The vessel was known by our intelligence to be… pic.twitter.com/BayDhUZ4Ac
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 22, 2025
In a brief video released by Hegseth, a small boat, half-filled with brown packages, is seen moving across the water before exploding several seconds later, leaving it floating motionless and engulfed in flames.
In his social media post, Hegseth drew an unusual comparison between the alleged drug traffickers and the group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks. “Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” he said, adding, “there will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”
President Donald Trump has defended the strikes by framing the United States as engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, invoking the same legal authority used by President George W. Bush following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. However, the administration has not prosecuted any occupants of the targeted vessels. In a prior strike, two survivors were returned to Ecuador and Colombia.
Ecuadorian officials later stated that the man repatriated to their country was released, citing a lack of evidence that he had committed a crime there.
The Western Journal has reviewed the Associated Press report and may have made modifications prior to publication to ensure it met editorial standards.
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