US Strikes Another Alleged Drug-Smuggling Vessel, Says It Killed Two ‘Narco-Terrorists’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that the US Defense Department killed two narco-terrorists in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific. 

The Details: The strike, which happened on Tuesday, was the eighth reported since Sept. 2 but the first not occurring in the Caribbean. It brought the number of fatalities enacted by the US Military against alleged drug-smuggling vessels to at least 34, furthering action in what President Donald Trump declared as a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels in early October.

For Context: Hegseth announced another “lethal kinetic strike” that killed three alleged narco-terrorists affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a US-designated Colombian terrorist organization, on Oct. 17. Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed the “Colombian boat was adrift and had its distress signal up due to an engine failure.” He asserted, “US government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters,” claiming deceased passenger Alejandro Carranza was a fisherman with “no ties to the drug trade.” The US also carried out multiple strikes in the Caribbean (specifically Venezuela), where 10,000 troops are reportedly deployed. A survivor of one of the strikes, Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was released by the Ecuadorian government, which said there was no criminal evidence in Tufiño’s case.

Key Quote: “Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice,” Hegseth wrote on X Wednesday.

How The Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) framed the recent military actions against drug cartels as “part of Trump’s broader effort to dismantle transnational cartels by force.” The article did not address Petro's murder accusations. BBC (Center) noted that the “US estimates from the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, indicate that the vast majority of cocaine bound for US cities passes through the Pacific,” but, “To date, US officials have offered few details on the identities of those killed in the strikes or what drug trafficking organisations they allegedly belong to.” BBC and CBS (Lean Left) both highlighted Tufiño’s release and the alleged lack of criminal evidence. CBS also gave voice to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who said on Sunday that “those routes through the Caribbean on boats are predominantly used to bring cocaine to Europe [but not the US].” 

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