U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “Department of War” celebrated the end of 2025 yesterday by targetting not one, not two, but five alleged drug trafficking boats and killing eight people. The first strike was made on three vessels operating in formation. “Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement on X posted at 4:17 p.m. ET. “Three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement. The remaining narco-terrorists abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels.” The Coast Guard was notified of the survivors in the water but no reports of any rescues have emerged since then. An unnamed U.S. official told ABC News that the strikes took place in the Eastern Pacific.
A few hours later, Southcom reported strikes on two more boats, killing 5.
By AP’s count, 35 boats have been destroyed in Hegseth’s campaign, with the death toll now at 115.
