The United States confirmed on Monday the death of six people in a new attack on two vessels allegedly linked to drug trafficking in international waters of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, the operations were carried out “at the direction of President Donald Trump” and targeted “vessels operated by organizations designated as terrorist.”
In his message on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Hegseth specified that "the two lethal kinetic attacks" took place on Sunday in an area of the Eastern Pacific known for being a common drug trafficking route.
"The vessels were known to our intelligence services for their association with the illegal smuggling of narcotics. They were transporting drugs and traversing a drug trafficking route," he stated.
The secretary added that each boat had three men on board, classified as "narcoterrorists," and that all of them died in the bombing.
"No member of the U.S. forces was injured," he assured. Hegseth emphasized that under Trump's administration, "the United States is protecting the homeland and eliminating the terrorists from the cartels that seek to harm our country and our people."
Although U.S. authorities assert that the attacks occurred within the framework of the drug war, international organizations have expressed concern about the legality of these operations.
The United Nations recently warned that "there is no legal justification" for carrying out lethal attacks in international waters and emphasized that "none of the individuals killed to date posed an imminent threat."
The UN has called for a “swift, independent, and transparent” investigation into these bombings, in response to allegations that they may violate International Law.
Despite the criticism, the Trump Administration has defended its hardline policy against drug trafficking and has intensified maritime operations in the Caribbean and the Pacific in recent months, arguing that the cartels pose a direct threat to U.S. national security.
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