WASHINGTON — The U.S. military on Wednesday launched its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing three people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, further expanding the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America.

Wednesday’s strike followed a strike Tuesday night, also in the eastern Pacific, that killed two people, according to Hegseth.

The attacks Tuesday and Wednesday were departures from the seven previous U.S. strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean. They bring the death toll to at least 37 from attacks that began last month.

The strikes represent an expansion of the military’s targeting area as well as a shift to the waters off South America where much of the cocai

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