Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a U.S. strike in the eastern Pacific destroyed a suspected narco‑trafficking vessel in international waters, killing four, with video of the blast posted online.
- The attack is the 14th since early September; earlier this week three strikes on four boats killed 14 people, and the publicly acknowledged total killed now stands at roughly 61–62.
- Officials assert the boats were operated by designated terrorist organizations and carried narcotics, yet the administration has not released verifiable evidence or the identities of those killed.
- The Pentagon has surged forces to the region, including the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group and F‑35s, intensifying regional tensions and drawing warnings from analysts about potential action against Venezuela.
- Scrutiny is growing as U.N. experts flag possible violations of international law, Mexico and Colombia criticize the operations, and Congress receives selective classified briefings while some lawmakers demand legal justification and fuller oversight.