Trump extends cartel war to the Pacific with two separate strikes

The Trump administration has apparently extended its naval campaign from the Caribbean to the Pacific this week, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that two boats, presumed to be cartel drug vessels, were struck by the US military.

The 8th and 9th military strikes, ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with the president’s approval, have brought the death toll to 37, according to CNN.

«Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice.»

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the expansion of the war into the Pacific on X, stating that one of the boats was known to the US military for «conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific».

Following the first strike, Hegseth issued a warning, saying there would be «no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere» for those he described as narco-terrorists.

On X, Hegseth compared the drug cartels to Al Qaeda and warned that there would be no refuge or forgiveness «only justice»:

«Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice.»

His statement came as CNN reported that the Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion seeking to justify lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, effectively granting the US military and Hegseth the authority to kill without any form of judicial review.

A war against «narco-terrorists»

Since early September, the U.S. military has conducted nine strikes against vessels suspected of belonging to drug cartels, marking the largest American counter-narcotics campaign in decades.

The first attack, on September 2, targeted a Venezuelan boat allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua network, killing eleven.

Additional strikes followed on September 15, 16, and 19, with one vessel sunk and nearly one ton of cocaine reportedly recovered by Dominican authorities — the only publicly documented evidence of drug trafficking so far, according to local media cited by international outlets. A new strike on October 3 killed four more.

Two further operations in the Pacific this week brought the total death toll to 37.

The Trump administration calls the campaign a war against «narco-terrorists».

But colombian officials have accused the Trump administration of killing a civilian fisherman during the U.S. anti-cartel strikes, alleging the victim had no criminal ties. The incident has fueled growing doubts over the campaign’s accuracy and legality, as no independent evidence has yet confirmed the U.S. claims about the targeted boats.