US military strikes another boat in the Pacific, killing 4
By Kaanita Iyer, CNN
(CNN) — The US military conducted a strike against a vessel in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing four people, according to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said in a post on X. He added that US forces were not harmed.
Wednesday’s action marks the 14th known US military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel. The operations, which began in early September, have killed 61 people aboard 15 total boats.
The Trump administration has been accelerating its attacks against boats that they allege are involved in drug trafficking. Last week, the administration struck two boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which appeared to mark an expansion of its campaign as previous strikes had targeted vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
On Monday, the US military struck four more boats in the Pacific, killing 14 people with one survivor, Hegseth announced a day later.
Those strikes marked the first time multiple were conducted on the same day as part of Trump’s campaign against drug cartels and trafficking.
The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, CNN previously reported. The opinion argues that the president is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels because they pose an imminent threat to Americans.
However, Democrats on Capitol Hill are continuing to raise concerns about the legality of the strikes. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner slammed the Trump administration for only briefing Republicans Wednesday on the military strikes without telling Democratic members.
“Decisions about the use of American military force are not campaign strategy sessions, and they are not the private property of one political party,” Warner said in a statement. “For any administration to treat them that way erodes our national security and flies in the face of Congress’ constitutional obligation to oversee matters of war and peace.”
The Republican-led Senate blocked a push earlier this month to limit Trump’s ability to command the military to strike alleged drug boats without congressional authorization.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
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