Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the Pentagon carried out another “lethal kinetic strike” on the orders of President Donald Trump against a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, in which four men were killed.

Hegseth reported on his X account that the vessel was identified by intelligence services and they assert that it "was traveling along a known drug trafficking route and carrying narcotics."

Last week, President Donald Trump stated that he does not rule out attacks on land targets, always related to drug trafficking, and added that if such operations are carried out, he will notify Congress.

Twelve attacks on vessels since September

The United States military claims to have sunk 15 vessels and lost 61 lives in Caribbean and Pacific waters following twelve attacks, in a new phase of its war on drugs.

Under the pretext of combating drug trafficking, the Donald Trump Administration escalated its offensive against Latin American cartels, which it considers terrorists and against whom it has declared a “direct armed conflict” that justifies its military actions in international waters.

The increase in tensions began in August with the deployment of military ships in the Caribbean, with Venezuela in the crosshairs, but has now spread to Pacific waters, involving Colombia.

Both the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and that of Gustavo Petro in Colombia, both accused by Trump of being drug traffickers, have denounced the attacks on the boats as murders and extrajudicial executions.

Dozens of NGOs, such as Amnesty International, They have also questioned the actions of the United States for violating international law.