UPDATE - US strikes kill 6 on vessels 'associated with illicit narcotics smuggling' in Pacific: Defense secretary

ADDS CONTEXT

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - US military strikes on two vessels in the Pacific Ocean killed six people suspected of narcotics smuggling, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday.

"Yesterday, at the direction of President (Donald) Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," Hegseth wrote on US social media company X.

The vessels were "known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling" and were carrying narcotics while "transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific," according to Hegseth.

Both strikes occurred in international waters with three individuals aboard each vessel. "All 6 were killed," Hegseth said, adding that no US forces were harmed.

"Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people," the defense secretary said.

The strikes represent the latest US military action against suspected drug trafficking operations in international waters under the Trump administration's counter-narcotics campaign.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Washington's operations began in the Caribbean Sea in September with the sinking of a Venezuelan speedboat accused of drug trafficking.

By late October, the campaign had spread to the Eastern Pacific, targeting drug trafficking routes in the region.

Since September, at least 19 attacks targeting drug traffickers have been carried out, resulting in 75 deaths.