The U.S. military has killed two people in a strike on a boat involved in alleged drug smuggling in the Eastern Pacific, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, making it the 16th attack by the Pentagon targeting such vessels.

In a post on X, Hegseth said the Department of Defense conducted a "lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization."

Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has, via executive order, listed eight drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.

In announcing the strike Tuesday, Hegseth did not specify which organization the boat was being operated by, but said "intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting a k

See Full Page