The U.S. military on Wednesday launched its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing three people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media Wednesday.
That followed another strike on Tuesday night, also in the eastern Pacific, that killed two people, according to Hegseth .
Both attacks were departures from the seven previous U.S. strikes that targeted vessels in the Caribbean. They bring the death toll for all the attacks, which began last month, to at least 37.
The strikes represent an expansion of the U.S. military's targeting area and a shift to the waters off South America, where much of the cocaine from the world's largest producers is smuggled.
Hegseth's social media posts also drew a direct compa