WASHINGTON (ABC) — The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday, killing 14 people.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X, where he posted a video of the strikes.
The latest action brings the total number of people believed to have been killed to at least 57.
According to Hegseth, there was one survivor from Monday’s round of strikes.
“Regarding the survivor, USSOUTHCOM immediately initiated Search and Rescue (SAR) standard protocols; Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue,” he wrote on X, though it’s unclear if that individual has been rescued.
This is the second time that there has been a survivor in an attack. Two survivors from an earlier attack in the Caribbean Sea were repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador.
The strikes are part of what the administration has called its “war” against drug cartels. Since the beginning of September, the U.S. military has now hit 10 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The use of lethal force, however, has raised several legal questions.
“The Department has spent over TWO DECADES defending other homelands. Now, we’re defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them,” Hegseth wrote in his post on Tuesday on the latest strikes.
In addition to the strikes, the U.S. last week ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its accompanying aircraft to the waters around Central and South America — a move designed to ratchet up pressure against the Venezuelan government. President Trump has even threatened potential land strikes against Venezuela.
By ALEXANDRA HUTZLER and LUIS MARTINEZ/ABC News
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Luis Martinez is ABC News Senior Pentagon Reporter. He has covered the U.S. military and national security issues for ABC News from the Pentagon since 2006. Prior to his role at the Pentagon, Martinez covered the State Department and the U.S. Senate for ABC News. He began his career at ABC in 1989 as a desk assistant and later worked as an assignment editor and a producer in the Washington, D.C., bureau, covering a variety of national issues. Martinez is a graduate of Columbia University.
