US kills two in latest Pacific vessel strike, death toll rises to 67
Legal experts say US attacks amount to extrajudicial killings even if those targeted are suspected of drug trafficking.
Published On 5 Nov 2025
The United States has killed two people in another strike on a vessel in the Pacific, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced, bringing the total number of people killed in US attacks on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific to at least 67 since early September.
In a social media post late Tuesday, Hegseth alleged the targeted vessel was involved in “illicit narcotics smuggling.” However, legal experts contend such attacks amount to extrajudicial killings, regardless of whether the targets are suspected of drug trafficking.
Describing the vessel as “transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said US forces attacked it in “international waters in the Eastern Pacific” on the orders of President Donald Trump.
Hegseth provided no evidence of drug trafficking. A short aerial video of the attack showed what appeared to be a stationary vessel being struck by a missile and exploding. The US military obscured the footage, making the vessel’s occupants impossible to see.
“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens. Protecting the homeland is our TOP priority,” Hegseth stated in a post on X alongside the video.
Since early September, US military strikes have now targeted at least 17 vessels—16 boats and a semi-submersible. The Trump administration has yet to publicly provide evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the US.
While lawmakers from both major US parties have demanded clarity on the legal basis for these attacks in international waters, governments and victims’ families in Latin America have condemned the strikes, accusing Washington of killing mostly fishermen.
Last week, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk called for the US to halt its attacks to “prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
The announcement of the latest killings coincides with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier heading towards the Caribbean to join a US military build-up in Latin America, which Washington has mobilized to target so-called drug cartels.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington accuses of involvement in drug trafficking, has charged the US with using its latest “war on drugs” as a pretext to oust him from power.
During a Sunday interview on CBS, Trump was asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered. “I would say, yeah. I think so, yeah,” the president replied, though he declined to answer whether he would order strikes inside Venezuela.
Trump has previously threatened to attack land-based targets related to the drug trade, a move that would mark a serious escalation of US military intervention in Latin America.