WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump's administration has intensified its military campaign against alleged drug smugglers, with a ninth strike announced overnight targeting a boat suspected of carrying drugs.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the ninth strike resulted in the deaths of three people.

On Tuesday, the administration reported that two individuals were killed in a separate attack on a boat suspected of smuggling drugs toward the U.S.

Trump has justified these military actions by asserting the U.S. is engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels. He said, "We will hit them very hard when they come in by land and they haven't experienced that yet, but now we're totally prepared to do that. We'll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we're doing when

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