WAGING THE WAR ON DRUGS ONE BOAT AT A TIME AIN'T A GONNA STOP THE FLOW OF DRUGS INTO THE US

Trump obliterates 'terrorist' vessel in latest strike on narco-traffickers

 

By Brittany Chain 

 

Daily Mail

Nov. 4, 2025

 

 

 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed details of the strike via X on Tuesday night, sharing extraordinary footage of the moment the vessel was blown to smithereens 

 

President Donald Trump launched yet another deadly strike on a foreign 'terrorist' vessel he claimed was trying to smuggle drugs through international waters.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed details of the strike via X on Tuesday night, sharing extraordinary footage of the moment the vessel was blown to smithereens.

Hegseth confirmed that Trump had ordered the hit, which killed two men.

'At the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO),' Hegseth wrote alongside the video.

'Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.'

Hegseth said the strike took place in international waters in the Eastern Pacific, and confirmed 'no U.S. forces were harmed.'

'Two male narco-terrorists — who were aboard the vessel — were killed,' he said.

'We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens. 

 

Footage captured the moment the vessel (left, before the strike) was blown up (right, immediately after the strike)

 

 

'Protecting the homeland is our TOP priority. NO cartel terrorist stands a chance against the American military.'

Earlier on Tuesday, the US Navy's P-8 Poseidon, an aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, and reconnaissance, was spotted circling a drug-smuggling hub off Mexico's coast.

Flight trackers recorded the jet performing multiple loops miles offshore from Tijuana, a city long plagued by violent organized crime and considered a major corridor for cartel operations. 

The P-8 took off from the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington, flew through Oregon and through California.

The aircraft then made several circles near the US-Mexico maritime boundary, a region notorious for drug smuggling from Mexico into California, before returning to home base.

Equipped with advanced sensors capable of detecting both surface and underwater targets, the P-8 is often used to monitor suspicious vessels and maritime movements. 

It is unclear whether the aircraft was involved in detecting the terrorist vessel.

But the latest mission comes just three days after the US military carried out a similar strike in the Caribbean on alleged drug smugglers, killing three.

 

The vessel exploded as it was targeted, killing at least two on board

It was seen smoking after the initial strike

 

It is at least the 16th strike of its kind since Trump returned to office in January, as part of his campaign pledge to crack down on cartels flooding the United States with drugs.

The U.S. military has now killed at least 66 people in the strikes.

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 official told The Hill that Trump had a mandate from the American public to take decisive action against cartels.

 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (pictured) confirmed the strike occured on Tuesday, revealing it was signed off by Trump

 

Trump has been ordering strikes as part of his crackdown on narcotics trafficking into America 

 

'On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to take on the cartels — and he has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans,' the insider said. 

The administration is reportedly in the early stages of planning a new mission to send American troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels.

According to two current and two former senior US officials, early-stage training for the operation has already begun, though they emphasized that 'a deployment to Mexico is not imminent.'

Under the proposed mission, US forces operating in Mexico would focus primarily on carrying out drone strikes targeting drug production sites and key cartel figures, two current and two former US officials told NBC.

Some of the drones expected to be deployed would need trained personnel on the ground to ensure they’re used accurately and safely, the officials added.

Trump has also placed substantial tariffs as high as 30 percent on goods imported to the US from Mexico in an effort to help stem the flow of drugs.