The United States is dramatically escalating its militarized anti-drug campaign, expanding air attacks on suspected trafficking vessels into the Pacific Ocean and threatening land-based operations while simultaneously severing aid and intensifying verbal attacks on Colombia’s leadership.
The US military conducted two air attacks on suspected drug vessels in the Pacific Ocean within two days this week. The latest strike on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of three individuals on board. No US personnel were harmed in the operation.
This attack followed a similar US strike a day earlier, also in the Pacific, which killed two people. Both vessels were believed to be transporting illicit drugs along established international shipping routes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the Wednesday attack. He stated that these targets are not merely drug traffickers but “drug terrorists who bring death and destruction to our cities.” Hegseth vowed that these operations would continue “relentlessly.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth announced that the “War Department” acted under orders from President Donald Trump. He referred to the vessels as being operated by “terrorist organizations.”
President Donald Trump asserted his legal authority to continue bombing vessels in international waters. He also indicated a readiness to expand anti-drug operations to land-based targets, a move he said would require consultation with the US Congress.
These recent attacks are the 8th and 9th US strikes against suspected drug vessels since September. They mark the first such operations to occur in the Pacific Ocean. Previous attacks, which have resulted in at least 37 deaths, primarily took place in the Caribbean.
The intensified military actions coincide with rising diplomatic tensions between the Trump administration and Colombia. President Trump has publicly denounced Colombian President Gustavo Petro, calling him a “thug and a bad guy.”
On Sunday, Trump accused President Petro of being an “illegal drug leader.” He claimed Petro is actively supporting large-scale drug production across Colombia.
The United States also announced it would cancel subsidies to Colombia. The South American nation was once considered one of the closest US allies in Latin America.
Experts identify the extensive Pacific coastlines of Colombia and Ecuador as a primary route for cocaine shipments. The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that the majority of cocaine entering the United States is trafficked via this ocean corridor.