A series of US attacks against ships supposedly loaded with drugs in the Pacific left 14 alleged drug traffickers dead and one survivor, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reported this Tuesday in the most recent operation of President Donald Trump’s anti-drug campaign.
The attacks in the Pacific come against the backdrop of a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, including guided-missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and thousands of troops. The government has ordered the deployment of the aircraft carrier strike group Ford in the region, and is expected to arrive in the Caribbean in the coming weeks.
In a social media post, Hegseth said Mexican authorities took over the search and rescue operation for the lone survivor of the three attacks, which took place on Monday.
“Our intelligence apparatus knew about the four ships, which were transiting known drug trafficking routes and transporting narcotics,” Hegseth said, without providing any evidence.
Trump administration does not give details about the attacks
Hegseth posted a roughly 30-second video that appeared to show two boats together in the water before exploding. Another part of the video showed a boat moving in the water before exploding.
In a statement on Day X, the Mexican Navy indicated that it received a request from the United States Coast Guard and subsequently carried out a rescue operation about 644 kilometers southwest of Acapulco. He added that an aircraft and a boat were used for the operation.
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These attacks followed at least ten others in the Caribbean and the Pacific since early September, within a campaign that has increased tensions between the United States and Venezuela and Colombia. Trump has also authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
The Pentagon has provided little information about the attacks, including the amount of drugs the ships were allegedly carrying and the identities of those killed.
The attacks have raised alarm among some Democratic lawmakers, who question whether the laws of war are being respected.
Legal experts have questioned why the U.S. military is carrying out the strikes, rather than the Coast Guard — America’s primary maritime law enforcement agency — and why no other efforts were made to stop the shipments before resorting to lethal strikes.
Reuters previously reported that two suspected drug traffickers survived a US military attack in the Caribbean earlier this month. They were rescued and transferred to a US Navy warship before being repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the United States seeks to oust him from power.
In August, Washington doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture to $50 million, accusing him of allegedly having links to drug trafficking and criminal groups, accusations that the Venezuelan president denies.
With information from Reuters
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