{"id":1106,"date":"2025-10-19T17:33:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaltaalenthq.com\/?p=1106"},"modified":"2025-10-20T08:53:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:53:24","slug":"hegseth-announces-another-us-strike-on-alleged-drug-trafficking-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaltaalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/19\/hegseth-announces-another-us-strike-on-alleged-drug-trafficking-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth announces another US strike on alleged drug trafficking boat"},"content":{"rendered":"
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday announced there had been another U.S. strike<\/a> on an alleged drug trafficking boat days prior.<\/p>\n \u201cOn October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ej\u00e9rcito de Liberaci\u00f3n Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,\u201d Hegseth said in a post<\/a> on the social platform X.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n According to Hegseth, the strike happened in international waters and the three passengers who were on the vessel were killed. Hegseth\u2019s post also featured video of a boat moving through water, with an explosion occurring shortly after.<\/p>\n The U.S. military has conducted multiple strikes aimed at alleged narcotrafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea in recent months, killing dozens of people in the process. The president recently declared the U.S. is now involved in an<\/a> \u201carmed conflict\u201d with drug cartels that the White House calls terrorist groups, providing legal rationale for the military actions. Ej\u00e9rcito de Liberaci\u00f3n Nacional is a Colombian armed group.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that recent strikes \u201cgo against all our tradition” in the U.S.<\/p>\n