Journalism of Courage
The US military on Wednesday carried out its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying boat, killing at least three people in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed, further expanding the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America, AP reported.
The strike by the US military on Wednesday was followed by America’s eighth strike on Tuesday that killed two people, according to Hegseth. The strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday were carried out in the Pacific Ocean, a departure from US forces’ earlier seven strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean.
The attacks, which began in September, have brought the death toll to 37 till now. The strikes in the Caribbean and now the Pacific Ocean represent the US military’s expanding approach as a shift to the waters off South America, where most of the cocaine is allegedly smuggled by the world’s largest producers, AP reported.
Defence Secretary Hegseth drew a parallel between the US war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and the Trump administration’s crackdown on drugs being smuggled across the border.
“Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Hegseth said, adding “there will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”
The defence secretary further wrote on X, “These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs are the “Al Qaeda” of our hemisphere and will not escape justice. We will find them and kill them, until the threat to the American people is extinguished.”
President Donald Trump has justified the strikes being carried out by the US military, saying the US forces are engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. When asked by reporters about the latest strike on vessels, Trump responded saying, “We have legal authority. We’re allowed to do that.”
(with inputs from Associated Press)
