US military strikes 2 boats in Pacific in apparent expansion of campaign against alleged drug trafficking

Pete Hegseth/X via CNN Newsource

(CNN) — The US military conducted lethal strikes against two boats in the eastern Pacific this week, killing all people on board each vessel, according to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

The two strikes on vessels in the Pacific — the eighth and ninth known strikes by the US military on alleged drug-smuggling vessels since the start of September — appear to mark an expansion of the US military campaign, with all seven previous strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean Sea.

At least 37 people in total have been killed in the nine strikes, officials have said.

“Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth said on X Wednesday, noting a Tuesday strike in the Pacific had killed bot