Washington DC [US], October 24 (ANI): The United States carried out its eighth confirmed strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people in international waters off Colombia, marking the first such operation on the Pacific side, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed.
Hegseth, in a social media post, framed the strike as part of America’s expanded campaign against narco terrorism, drawing an analogy between cartel networks and Al-Qaeda. “There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice,” he said. “Our message to these foreign terrorist organizations is we will treat you like we have treated Al Qaeda. We will find you, map your networks, hunt you down, and kill you.”
According to Hegseth, the targeted vessel was suspected of illicit narcotics smuggling and was transiting along a known trafficking route. The strike occurred in international waters, with two alleged narco terrorists aboard, both of whom were killed. No US forces were harmed. CBS News reported that this operation is the eighth such strike since September 2, following seven earlier attacks in the Caribbean.
Hegseth emphasised that drug cartels are waging a war on the US border. The Trump administration has informed Congress that the US is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with these organizations, citing the tens of thousands of American deaths annually due to narcotics as constituting an “armed attack.”
US President Donald Trump also accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of supporting large-scale drug production, calling him an “illegal drug leader.” Trump announced that his administration is cutting off all subsidies to Colombia, calling the payments “nothing more than a long-term rip off of America.”
The US strike underscores a broader policy of targeting drug smuggling operations beyond traditional Caribbean routes, signalling an intensification of military action against cartel networks across the Pacific. (ANI)
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