U.S. military forces launched coordinated airstrikes on four narco-smuggling vessels transiting a known trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The operation, directed by President Trump, resulted in the deaths of 14 narco-terrorists. One survivor was located after a joint U.S.–Mexican search effort.
According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the strikes were carried out in three separate waves by U.S. military aircraft. The first strike eliminated eight terrorists, the second took out four, and the third neutralized three more. All incidents occurred in international waters, and no U.S. personnel were harmed during the operation.
Hegseth confirmed that U.S. forces under the U.S. Southern Command immediately launched a search-and-rescue mission following standard protocol. The effort was handed off to the Mexican Navy, which deployed air and sea assets to the site roughly 400 miles southeast of Acapulco. The survivor was located and is now in Mexican custody.
The Secretary released video footage of the strikes, which showed direct hits on fast-moving, heavily-laden vessels. One clip captured the simultaneous destruction of two boats operating side-by-side. Another showed a high-speed smuggling craft being obliterated mid-transit.
Hegseth stated the strikes are part of a new doctrine of proactive national defense. He declared that these cartels “have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda” and would be pursued, targeted, and destroyed like foreign terrorist groups.
Since President Trump launched the military campaign in early September, U.S. forces have carried out 14 strikes against smuggling vessels in both the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific. An estimated 57 narco-terrorists have been killed.
This campaign follows President Trump’s executive order designating multiple violent criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The list includes MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and several Mexican cartels such as CJNG, Sinaloa, Gulf Cartel, CDN, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.
