The U.S. military blew up another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Thursday, killing four male “narco-terrorists” and continuing its lethal counternarcotics campaign as scrutiny over the Trump administration’s early September operation intensifies.
The boat on Thursday was struck in international waters and was operated by a designated terrorist organization, U.S. Southern Command announced. It is unclear which terrorist group the military was referring to.
The vessel was carrying illegal drugs and was transiting along a “known narco-trafficking” route in the eastern Pacific, according to the U.S. military.
The U.S. military shared a 21-second video of the attack, showing the boat being struck and engulfed in flame.
The latest strike came the same day Navy Adm. Frank Bradley was in Congress to brief lawmakers on the U.S. military’s Sept. 2 strike against an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, where 11 people were killed.
During the briefings, which were held in both chambers, Bradley, the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, denied reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an order to “kill everybody” aboard before the Sept. 2 operation.
The briefing from Bradley came as lawmakers in both parties were asking the Trump administration for more information regarding the Sept. 2 mission, where the U.S. military conducted four strikes, two to kill those on board and two others to sink the vessel.
Since early September, the U.S. military has conducted more than 20 strikes against purported drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 87 people, according to the Trump administration.
Thursday’s strike in the eastern Pacific represents the first U.S. strike against an alleged drug-smuggling vessel since mid-November, when the U.S. military blew up a purported drug-smuggling boat and killed three “narco-terrorists.”