Name: US Airstrike on Drug Boat Kills 4 in Eastern Pacific
Uploaded: 2025-12-18T13:36:18.000Z
Description: This strike was the latest military action in President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt drug trafficking to the United States.

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The United States conducted another airstrike on a drug boat in the Eastern Pacific on Wednesday, killing four, according to the U.S. Southern Command.

The attack was ordered by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and joins a growing list of at least two dozen other strikes against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific.

In the latest strike, U.S. Southern Command said in a post on <a href="https://x.com/Southcom/status/2001464448750621120" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">X</a>, which was accompanied by a video of the explosion, that it confirmed the boat was engaged in drug-trafficking operations and navigating along known trafficking routes.

Four men, identified as “narco-terrorists,” were killed, and no U.S. military forces were harmed, according to the X post.

This is the second airstrike this week after the United States announced Monday it destroyed three drug-trafficking boats also in the eastern Pacific, killing eight narco-terrorists.

This strike was the latest military action in President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt drug trafficking to the United States.

Earlier this week, on Monday, Trump signed an executive order designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

The president has in recent months ordered 26 known airstrikes on suspected drug boats, killing at least 99, in part of a campaign called Operation Southern Spear. He has previously said the United States is in an armed conflict with drug cartels. When he took office in January, Trump designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a measure that would have required Trump to get approval from Congress before conducting airstrikes on vessels carrying illegal drugs. The vote failed 210–216, with two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, Kentucky, and Don Bacon, Nebraska, joining Democrats to vote in favor of the measure.

Another failed resolution Wednesday would have prevented Trump from launching strikes against Venezuela without congressional approval. That vote ended 213–211 with Massie, Bacon, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joining Democrats in backing the proposal.

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-airstrike-on-drug-boat-kills-4-in-eastern-pacific-5959765">The Epoch Times</a></em>

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US Airstrike on Drug Boat Kills 4 in Eastern Pacific

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