Pete Hegseth says U.S. military carried out another strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific Ocean

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the Pentagon carried out another “lethal kinetic strike” under President Donald Trump on a ship in the eastern Pacific Ocean that left four people dead.

“Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the War Department conducted a deadly kinetic strike on another narcotics trafficking vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X, using the Defense Department’s secondary title.

This is the 12th time the Trump administration has launched military strikes against boats suspected of carrying drugs in recent months.

The announcement comes a day after Hegseth said the U.S. military carried out three strikes on four ships in the same area on Monday, killing 14 people, whom he also called “narcoterrorists.”