US forces hit two more alleged drug boats off the coast of South America, killing six people, Pete Hegseth said.
The US began carrying out such strikes – which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even though they target known traffickers – in early September, targeting ships in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two deadly kinetic strikes were conducted on two ships operated by designated terrorist organizations,” Hegseth said.
He added in a Social Media Post of X: “The two strikes were carried out in international waters and 3 male terrorists on land, we did not protect the terrorists in carel.
Hegseth said: “These vessels are known to our intelligence to be associated with serious narcotics trafficking, and are primarily on a known narcotics transit route in the Eastern Pacific.”
However, Washington has not yet made public any concrete evidence that its targets are harboring narcotics or hostages in the United States.