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Video: U.S. Expands Lethal Attacks on Drug Boats to the Pacific

suspected drug smuggling boat
The eighth legal strike took place in the Pacific the US reports (Hegseth)

Published Oct 22, 2025 7:54 PM by The Maritime Executive


After highlighting a series of attacks on suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean, the United States has begun using the same tactic in the Pacific. This comes after the U.S. Coast Guard had been touting the results of its Operation Viper, which was stopping boats, arresting individuals, and seizing cocaine.

Pete Hegseth announced the latest attack in a posting on social media, saying it was at the direction of Donald Trump. Few details were released along with the video that shows a small power boat with multiple outboard motors being destroyed.

The posting said that it was in international waters in the Eastern Pacific and that two people aboard were killed. Hegseth wrote that the vessel was “known” by intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling and on a known route. He asserted it was carrying narcotics and was operated by “narco-terrorists,” a phrase coined by the administration to justify the use of lethal force.

It was the eighth strike announced by the United States, although the other seven were reported to have been in the Caribbean. Unlike the previous ones, with the administration linked to Venezuela or Colombia, no country was mentioned in today’s announcement. USA Today reports it happened in South American waters on October 21.

 

 

The U.S. Coast Guard has been highlighting its success at interdiction in the Pacific. Recently, the cutter Midgett returned to Honolulu after a 79-day deployment. The report said that the vessel had been patrolling waters off the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central America and that the vessel apprehended 19 suspected drug smugglers, interdicted four vessels, and seized over 21,000 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $156 million.

In August and September, the Coast Guard highlighted a series of interdictions by the vessels in operation Pacific Viper. In August, it reported the seizure of over 13,000 pounds of cocaine and the arrest of 11 suspects. The boats were burnt at sea. In September, it highlighted that more than 75,000 pounds of cocaine had been seized in the Eastern Pacific. USCG reported more than 20 interdictions and seized 59 individuals. It released a dramatic video showing its forces chasing down and stopping one of the boats.

Hegseth’s now familiar tone in the report said, “These cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness – only justice.”

Two individuals survived one of the attacks last week in the Caribbean and were rescued by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. They, however, were extradited to Ecuador and Colombia. The U.S. said they were prosecuted, but yesterday Ecuador said it had found no evidence and released the individual. The other individual who survived is in a hospital in Colombia, with reports that he was on a ventilator.