US kills 14 in strikes on four alleged drug boats

The US military has killed 14 people in strikes on four suspected drug ships in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

He said one survivor was rescued by Mexican search and rescue officials.

It is the latest in a series of attacks on ships the US says were carrying drugs in both the Pacific and Caribbean.

The latest strikes in the Eastern Pacific, which Hegseth said happened Monday at the direction of President Donald Trump, mark an escalation in what he says is a campaign to crack down on drug traffickers.

The strikes killed at least 57 people, raising tensions between the United States and the governments of Colombia and Venezuela.

Most of them occurred off the coast of South America, in the Caribbean Sea, but recently there have been strikes in the Pacific Ocean.

The US strikes drew regional condemnation and experts questioned their legality. Members of the US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, also expressed concern and questioned the president's authority to give them orders.

In a statement to X, Hegseth said the four vessels targeted on Monday “were known to our intelligence, were following known drug trafficking routes and were transporting drugs.”

Hegseth added that the first strike killed eight “narco-terrorists.” The next two strikes killed four and three people.

One person survived the blows. Mexican search and rescue services “took over the case and took responsibility for coordinating the rescue efforts,” Hegseth said.

The survivor's condition and current whereabouts are unknown.

Hegseth's message included videos showing several ships catching fire after being hit by American ammunition.

“The Department has spent more than two decades defending other homelands,” Hegseth wrote. “Now we protect our own.”

At least four strikes so far have occurred in the Pacific Ocean, which is a much more important corridor for drug trafficking, and the rest have occurred in the Caribbean.

President Trump has said he has the legal authority to continue bombing ships in international waters, but last week suggested he might seek congressional approval if the campaign were expanded to include targets on land.

Trump has said he is “fully prepared” to carry out strikes on ground targets, which would mark a significant escalation of the campaign.

However, the strikes have drawn criticism from international law experts as well as the governments of Venezuela and Colombia.

In an interview with the BBC's Newsday program last week, Colombia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo said the strikes were “disproportionate and outside the bounds of international law.”

Jaramillo said those on the vessels “had no opportunity to defend themselves” and were hit “without process” and “without a court order.”

The strikes also come amid heightened tensions with both governments. The US has imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of failing to curb drug trafficking and allowing cartels to “thrive”.

The US has deployed troops, aircraft and naval vessels in the Caribbean, and last week ordered the world's largest warship, the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, to the area.

Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of being the leader of a drug trafficking organization, which he denies, and there are fears in Venezuela that the US military buildup is aimed at destabilizing and overthrowing Maduro's government.