U.S. strikes 8th alleged drug vessel

The U.S. struck another alleged drug-smuggling vessel Tuesday night, this time on the Pacific coast of South America.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike and that it was directed by President Trump.

“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics,” he said on X. “There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”

It was the eighth known U.S. attack on an alleged drug-running boat since Sept. 2, seven of which targeted vessels in the Caribbean. At least 34 people have been killed in such operations.

Tuesday’s strike in the Pacific represents an expansion of the military’s targeting area as well as a shift to the waters off South America where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled. Mr. Hegseth’s post also drew a direct comparison between the war on terrorism that the U.S. declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administration’s crackdown.

“Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Mr. Hegseth said.

Two men survived a U.S. strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean last week, while two were killed. Mr. Trump said that the two will be returned to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia. The Colombian citizen remains hospitalized after his repatriation.

The Trump administration told Congress the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels it has designated as terrorist organizations.

Ecuador released the man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, after authorities said they had no evidence he committed a crime.

The Colombian citizen remains hospitalized after his repatriation, and Colombian authorities said he would face prosecution.

President Trump has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and proclaiming the criminal organizations unlawful combatants, relying on the same legal authority used by President George W. Bush’s administration when it declared a war on terrorism.

The latest strike, first reported by CBS News, follows rising tensions between the U.S. and both Venezuela and Colombia.

The U.S. military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, raising speculation that Mr. Trump could try to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Mr. Maduro faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.

In his posts on the strikes, Mr. Trump has repeatedly argued that illegal narcotics and the drug fentanyl carried by the vessels have been poisoning Americans.

Colombia and Peru, countries with coastlines on the eastern Pacific, are the world’s top cocaine producers. Wedged between them is Ecuador, whose world-class ports and myriad maritime shipping containers filled with bananas have become the perfect vehicle for drug traffickers to move their product.

Lawmakers from both political parties have expressed concerns about the military actions. But the Republican-controlled Senate recently voted down a Democratic-sponsored war powers resolution, mostly along party lines, that would have required the president to seek authorization from Congress before further military strikes.

Some Republicans have asked the White House for more clarification on its legal justification and specifics on how the strikes are conducted, while Democrats insist they are violations of U.S. and international law.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, has clashed with Vice President J.D. Vance about the strikes and said during a floor speech that “Congress must not allow the executive branch to become judge, jury and executioner.”