The US military has struck four ships in the Pacific Ocean that were involved in drug trafficking. The operation resulted in the deaths of 14 people, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.
According to him, the strikes were carried out on the orders of President Donald Trump. The minister claims that the vessels belonged to organizations recognized as terrorist and were engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
“These four vessels were known to our intelligence, they passed through known drug trafficking routes and transported drugs”, – said Hegset.
According to the minister, during the first strike, there were eight people on board some of the vessels, during the second – four, and during the third – three.
“In total, 14 narco-terrorists were killed as a result of the three strikes, one survived. All strikes were carried out in international waters, and no American service members were injured, he said.
For the survivor, the US Navy’s Southern Command has initiated standard search and rescue procedures, and Mexico has taken over coordination of the rescue operation.
Gegset added that the Pentagon has long defended other countries, but is now focused on defending its own territory, and expressed a tough stance against drug traffickers:
“These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will build relationships with them, and then we will track them down and kill them.
