Hegseth says US attacked alleged drug-running boats in Pacific, killing 14

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth (Evan Vucci/AP)

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military carried out three strikes on Monday in the waters of the Eastern Pacific against boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor.

The announcement, made on social media, marks a continued escalation in the pace of the strikes, which began in early September spaced weeks apart.

This was the first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day.

Mr Hegseth said Mexican search and rescue authorities “assumed responsibility for co-ordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor, but did not say if that person would stay in their custody or be handed over to the US.

Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.

The… pic.twitter.com/PEaKmakivD

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 23, 2025

In a strike earlier in October which had two survivors, the US military rescued the pair and later repatriated them to Colombia and Ecuador.

Mr Hegseth posted footage of the strikes to social media in which two boats can be seen moving at speed through the water. One is visibly laden with a large amount of parcels or bundles. Both then suddenly explode and are seen aflame.

The third strike appears to have been conducted on a pair of boats that were stationary in the water alongside each other. They appear to be largely empty with at least two people seen moving before an explosion engulfs both boats.

Mr Hegseth said “the four vessels were known by our intelligence apparatus, transiting along known narco-trafficking routes, and carrying narcotics”.

The death toll from the 13 disclosed strikes since early September is now at least 57 people.