On Sunday, Donald Trump unleashed a powerful assault in the Pacific Ocean targeting suspected narco-terrorists. As stated by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Monday morning, President Trump directed two decisive kinetic attacks against vessels belonging to Designated Terrorist Organizations. According to Hegseth, U.S. intelligence identified these ships as being connected to illegal narcotics trafficking.

The secretary elaborated that both ships were transporting drugs, though he did not disclose the specific substances or the precise location of the strikes within the Eastern Pacific. “The operations were carried out in international waters,” Hegseth noted, adding that each vessel had three male narco-terrorists aboard, all of whom perished. He confirmed there were no injuries among U.S. personnel.

In recent months, the U.S. military has executed 18 lethal strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels, resulting in around 75 fatalities, including those from Monday’s mission. Since embarking on his second term, Trump has intensified military actions against Venezuela, accusing its socialist leadership of funneling drugs into the United States. Furthermore, he has designated Mexico’s major drug cartels as terrorist entities.

‘Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people,’ Hegseth concluded. Last week, the US conducted its 17th deadly strike on drug boats moving narcotics through international waters in the Caribbean. Hegseth made the announce on Thursday noting that all three alleged narco-terrorists had been killed on board. Critics have claimed that the Trump administration’s targeted strikes on drug smugglers represents extrajudicial killings.

The Pentagon has yet to release concrete evidence to the public that the vessels were carrying narcotics or posed a threat to the US. Back in October, the U.S. rescued two survivors from a military strike on drug vessel. The pair were later repatriated back to Colombia and Ecuador. Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

He has asserted the U.S. is engaged in an ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Senate Democrats have expressed doubts over the legality of the strikes, and last week renewed their request for more information about the strikes in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Hegseth.

‘We also request that you provide all legal opinions related to these strikes and a list of the groups or other entities the President has deemed targetable,’ the senators wrote. A White House claims Trump has a mandate from the American public to take decisive action against cartels.