U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday on his social media account X that the military launched three attacks on four vessels sailing in the Pacific on Monday. Fourteen people were killed in the operation, and one possible survivor has yet to be found. Hegseth claimed, without providing evidence, that the boats were carrying drugs and that their crews belonged to"designated terrorist organizations." He also did not specify which organizations.

With these four alleged drug boats, the number of vessels destroyed by the U.S. military in extrajudicial attacks since the beginning of September now stands at 14, as part of a war declared by the White House—without the involvement of Congress—on Venezuelan drug trafficking gangs and, since last week, also on Colombian ones. Fifty-seven civilians have been killed in these attacks, with at least two survivors.

The Secretary of Defense specified in his message that eight"narcoterrorists" were traveling on the two vessels that US forces attacked first,"following Trump's orders." The second attack killed four more people. In the third, two crew members died, and another survived."The US Southern Command immediately initiated standard search and rescue protocols," according to Hegseth, and"Mexican authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating it."

President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said that Mexico does not “agree with these attacks, with how they are carried out,” confirmed that the Mexican Navy (Semar) had “decided to rescue that person,” about 800 kilometers off the coast of Acapulco, implying that they already had the survivor in their possession. Semar later confirmed that this was not the case and that the search is ongoing.

The three military operations announced Tuesday by Hegseth"were conducted in international waters and there were no casualties among U.S. forces," according to the Secretary of Defense.

Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.

The four vessels were known by our intelligence…

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 28, 2025

As usual, Hegseth's message (who appears to have taken over from Trump as the person in charge of publicizing these operations contrary to international law on social media) includes a video labeled"declassified." This time, the footage shows three different targets. Two of them are moving boats, speeding across the ocean. In the first part of the clip, two vessels are seen standing side by side before a projectile hits them and both are blown up.

List of posters

By specifying that the four boats belong to “designated terrorist organizations,” Hegseth’s message provides clues, though not proof, about their possible origin. In February, Washington included the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and six Mexican cartels on the State Department’s list: the Sinaloa, Jalisco New Generation, Northwest, and Gulf cartels, as well as La Nueva Familia Michoacana and the United Cartels.

Four years earlier, with Joe Biden in the White House, the two main umbrella groups representing the many dissident groups of the defunct FARC guerrilla group were added to that list: the so-called Central General Staff and the Second Marquetalia. Furthermore, since the list was created in 1997, the National Liberation Army (ELN) has been included. This guerrilla group was created in the mid-20th century and today has such a significant presence in Venezuela—due to its good relations with Chavismo—that many analysts consider it binational. Hegseth had already attributed a previous attack to the ELN.

This isn't the first time one of these operations has left survivors. A couple of weeks ago, two men, an Ecuadorian and a Colombian, traveling in a shallow-sea submersible boat, survived after being hit by US military missiles. They were repatriated to their countries, and the Ecuadorian was released by authorities.

That sparked a clash between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has been denouncing attacks in recent weeks that were originally aimed at Venezuela, specifically the Chavista regime. The US president has repeatedly called Petro a"drug trafficking leader" in recent days.

No one in Washington is making any effort to conceal the fact that, behind the appearance of this war on drugs, the United States government is seeking to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—whom Washington accuses of leading a narco-state—and bring about political change in the country. There is a $50 million reward for anyone providing a tip leading to his arrest.

A couple of days later, and after Trump's threats to withdraw all aid to Colombia and impose tariffs on Bogotá that have yet to arrive, the first attack outside Caribbean waters occurred in the Pacific. It happened off the Colombian coast. This was followed a few hours later by another in the same area.

Until the three attacks were reported this Monday, the last attack had taken place last Thursday. It took place in international waters in the Caribbean, marking a return to the original pattern of Trump's offensive against drug trafficking, which he justifies as defending the United States in a declared war against drug trafficking organizations included on the State Department's list of terrorist groups.

“We will hunt them down and eliminate them”

Hegseth concluded his Tuesday address with a warning that validates Trump's theory that this is all about defending Americans at a time when the country is experiencing the worst drug-related public health crisis in its history, driven primarily by fentanyl, a powerful opioid responsible for three-quarters of overdose deaths.

“The Department has spent more than two decades defending other homelands,” the self-proclaimed Secretary of War stated. “Now it’s our turn. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than al-Qaeda, and they will receive the same treatment. We will track them, connect them to networks, and then hunt them down and eliminate them.”

That rhetoric has led to an unprecedented military deployment. A dozen warships, including a nuclear submarine, and 10,000 troops have moved into the Southern Command's area of influence. Last Friday, Trump ordered the deployment of the largest and most modern aircraft carrier in his fleet, the Gerald Ford, to the Caribbean. The warship, which has a crew of more than 5,000 sailors, was in Europe and had passed through the Strait of Gibraltar at the time of its deployment. It is expected to arrive in the area early next week.

Also pending in the Senate in Washington is a vote on a proposal that, if passed, would force Trump, who has repeatedly stated in recent days that the United States is ready to launch a ground offensive in Venezuela, to abandon his military campaign and withdraw his naval deployment.