Eight alleged “narco-terrorists” were killed on Monday in US strikes about three ships suspected of transporting drugs in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Department officials said.
US Southern Command says a post on social media that the strikes, among about two dozen carried out in the region since early September, were ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to Southern Command, three people died on the first ship, two on the second and three on the third. The boats were allegedly operated by U.S.-designated terrorist groups in international waters, and Southern Command said they used known drug routes and engaged in drug trafficking.
The new strikes come amid growing tensions between the US and Venezuela. increased attention about the so-called US double strike on September 2, which killed survivors of the first strike on a suspected drug ship.
The attacks marked the 23rd to 25th known strikes against suspected drug vessels by U.S. forces in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean; they killed at least 94 people.
The Trump administration has defended the strikes, saying they are critical to stopping the flow of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is often produced using chemicals from China and shipped through Mexico into the country. Fentanyl the leading cause of overdose deaths in the country.
“The stated intent is to stop the use of deadly drugs, destroy drug trafficking vessels, and destroy the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people,” Hegseth. said on X last month. “Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a designated terrorist organization.”
On Monday President Donald Trump signed executive order designating fentanyl and its primary chemical precursor as weapons of mass destruction.
