US launches strikes on 4 alleged drug-running boats in the eastern
Pacific, killing 14
[October 29, 2025]
By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that
the U.S. military has carried out strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean
on four boats accused of carrying drugs, killing 14 people and leaving
one survivor in the deadliest single day since the Trump administration
began its divisive campaign against drug trafficking in the waters off
South America.
It was the first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day as
the pace of the attacks has escalated. The nearly two-month campaign and
U.S. military buildup have strained ties with allies in the region and
opened speculation that the moves are aimed at ousting Venezuelan
President Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. has accused of narcoterrorism.
A statement provided by a Pentagon official, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity to freely discuss the operation, said the strikes were
conducted Monday off the coast of Colombia.
Following one attack on a boat, the military spotted a person in the
water clinging to some wreckage. The military passed the survivor’s
precise location to the U.S. Coast Guard and a Mexican military aircraft
that was operating in the area, the official said.
However, the Mexican navy says it is searching about 400 miles southwest
of the Pacific city of Acapulco, suggesting the possibility that the
strike may have taken place far away from Colombia and closer to
Mexico’s coast. It wasn’t immediately clear exactly where the strike
took place, and the Pentagon did not give more details.
Mexico is still conducting a search for the survivor and criticizes
the strikes
Hegseth said Mexican search and rescue authorities “assumed
responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor but
didn’t say if that person was successfully rescued or would stay in
Mexico’s custody or be handed over to the U.S.
Mexico's navy still was attempting a search and rescue operation, the
military said in a statement Tuesday, a day after the strikes occurred.
The American attacks drew renewed criticism from the regional ally.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her daily press
conference that she asked the foreign affairs secretary and the navy to
meet with the U.S. ambassador in Mexico to discuss the issue because “we
do not agree with these attacks.”
“We want all international treaties to be respected,” she said.
The strikes also have strained ties with other historic allies like
Colombia, a country whose intelligence is crucial to American
anti-narcotics operations in the region. In an escalating clash between
the Republican U.S. president and Colombia’s first leftist leader, the
Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday on Colombian President
Gustavo Petro, his family and a member of his government over
accusations of involvement in the global drug trade. Petro vehemently
denies the allegations.
In a strike earlier this month with two survivors, the U.S. military
rescued the pair and repatriated them to Colombia and Ecuador.
Authorities released the Ecuadorian man after prosecutors said they had
no evidence he committed a crime in Ecuador.
Hegseth posted footage of the latest strikes to social media in which
two boats can be seen moving through the water in separate clips. One is
visibly laden with a large amount of parcels or bundles. Both then
suddenly explode and are seen in flames.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, center right, with Japanese
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and Defense Minister Shinjiro
Koizumi, gestures as they listen to President Donald Trump speak to
members of the military aboard the USS George Washington, an
aircraft carrier docked at an American naval base, in Yokosuka,
south of Tokyo, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The third strike appears to have been conducted on a pair of boats
that were stationary in the water alongside each other. They appear
to be largely empty, with at least two people seen moving before an
explosion engulfs both boats.
Hegseth said “the four vessels were known by our intelligence
apparatus, transiting along known narco-trafficking routes, and
carrying narcotics.”
The Trump administration has shown no evidence to support its claims
about the boats, their connection to drug cartels, or even the
identity of the people killed in the strikes that began in early
September and had been spaced weeks apart.
Fatalities rise as speculation swirls about the US campaign
The death toll from the 13 disclosed strikes has increased to at
least 57 people. The Trump administration said several of the
strikes have been off the coast of Venezuela or blamed them on the
Tren de Aragua gang, which originated in a Venezuelan prison and has
been declared a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S.
After the Pentagon announced Friday that it was dispatching an
aircraft carrier to join the eight warships and thousands of troops
already in the region, Maduro said the U.S. government was
“fabricating” a war against him.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the U.S. is taking part in a
counterdrug operation, while also accusing Maduro’s government of
allowing and participating in the shipment of narcotics.
The U.S. military also flew a pair of supersonic heavy bombers up to
the coast of Venezuela.
President Donald Trump has said he has the “legal authority” to
carry out the attacks on the alleged drug-carrying boats and
suggested similar strikes could be done on land.
In his announcement of the latest strikes, Hegseth continued to draw
parallels between the military’s actions against drug trafficking
and the war on terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
He claimed that cartels “have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda,
and they will be treated the same."
Trump has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States
is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and proclaiming
the criminal organizations to be unlawful combatants, relying on the
same legal authority used by President George W. Bush’s
administration for the war on terrorism.
___
Associated Press writers María Verza and Megan Janetsky in Mexico
City contributed to this report.
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