The U.S. military campaign against vessels crewed by civilians allegedly involved in drug trafficking continued this Tuesday with a new extrajudicial attack, the eighth reported since September. This time, the latest attack occurred off the Colombian coast and in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and not, like the previous ones, in the Caribbean Sea.

The news was released Wednesday at noon (Washington time) by CBS, citing two anonymous official sources. Confirmation came shortly afterward from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who said that the US military killed two people this time, bringing the death toll from the eight extrajudicial operations to at least 34 civilians.

Hegseth described the crew as “narco-terrorists” in a post on X, in which, as has become customary for almost two months, he played a video of the moment the boat blew up. “Just as al-Qaeda declared war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no sanctuary or forgiveness, only justice,” he added, without offering further details about the identity of those aboard the vessel or evidence of their cargo. He also said that the order had been given by US President Donald Trump.

The announcement comes two days after Hegseth himself—and not, as has also been customary, Trump—broke the news of the seventh attack on Sunday.

The target was a vessel that U.S. authorities link to the National Liberation Army, a Colombian guerrilla group that the United States has considered a terrorist organization since the 1990s. In a post on X, the group alleged that the vessel"was navigating a known drug trafficking route and transporting substantial quantities of narcotics." Three people were killed.

The Secretary of Defense also stated that the operation, which targeted Colombia, not Venezuela as previously stated, took place in international waters and within the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command, which includes the Caribbean Sea. An unprecedented deployment has taken place in that area in recent weeks, involving a dozen warships, including a nuclear submarine, and some 10,000 troops.

“Armed attacks”

The Trump administration considers the United States to be engaged in a"non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels. Arguing that the narcotics trafficked by these criminal gangs kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, they classify these alleged drug movements as"armed attacks."

Senators from both parties oppose Trump's declaration of war against these organizations, rather than a country, and his invoking a 1970s law that gives him the power to continue these operations without congressional approval for 60 days. The law expires in early November and can be extended for another 30 days.

Over the weekend, the US president also confirmed the sixth extrajudicial operation in a campaign that began in early September. This time, the target was a shallow submersible vessel. The military killed two civilians, and two others, a Colombian and an Ecuadorian, survived.

Both were repatriated to their countries, and the Ecuadorian is now free, since the Prosecutor's Office of that country did not find evidence to accuse him of any crime.

US authorities have yet to provide evidence regarding the crew members of these vessels or the cargo they were carrying. The death penalty is legal in much of the United States, although it is never used for drug trafficking, and a trial is always required.