Trump administration announces 16th deadly strike on alleged drug boat

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced another deadly strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific, coming on the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.

Tuesday’s attack killed two people on board the ship, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters to at least 66 people in at least 16 raids, Hegseth said.

Read more: All US military strikes against alleged drug boats

President Donald Trump justified the strikes by saying the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terrorist organizations. The administration did not provide evidence or further details.

“We will find and terminate every vessel intended to smuggle drugs into America to poison our citizens,” Hegseth wrote while on a trip to Asia.

Lawmakers from both parties have pressed the Trump administration for more information about those targeted and the legal justification for the strikes given that Congress has not authorized military action. Last week, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the United States to stop the attacks and “prevent the extrajudicial killing of the people on board these boats.”

Read more: High Commissioner for Human Rights: US strikes on alleged drug boats “unacceptable”

The latest strike comes as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford left the Mediterranean Sea on its way to the Caribbean after Hegseth ordered it to the region more than a week ago. It will join the already strong build-up of US aircraft, ships and thousands of troops in Latin America.

A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ship movements, confirmed that the Ford and the destroyer USS Bainbridge crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday.

Ford was originally deployed with five destroyers, but it is not clear if all of them will go to the Caribbean. Two other destroyers in Ford’s strike group, USS Winston Churchill and USS Mahan, are now in the Mediterranean, with Mahan based in Rota, Spain.

The other two destroyers, USS Forrest Sherman and USS Mitchener, are in the Red Sea, the official said.

As the scope of strikes and military assets in the region expands, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, accused of drug-related terrorism in the United States, said that the US government is “fabricating” a war against him.

During an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Trump was asked whether the United States would go to war with Venezuela. He replied: “I doubt it. I don’t think so. But they treat us very badly, not just when it comes to drugs.”

In the interview on Friday, Norah O’Donnell also asked Trump if Maduro’s days were numbered.

“I would say yes,” the president said. “I think so, yes.” Trump did not clarify whether or not he would order ground strikes in Venezuela.

In the final strike, a video posted by Hegseth on social media showed a gray box blocking a boat appearing in the water before it was detonated. The footage then cuts to the ship on fire.