Hegseth Says US Strikes 4 Alleged Drug-Running Boats

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military carried out three strikes Monday in the waters of the eastern Pacific against boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 and leaving one survivor. The announcement made on social media on Tuesday marks a continued escalation in the pace of the strikes, which began in early September spaced weeks apart. This was the first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day, reports the AP.

Hegseth said Mexican search and rescue authorities "assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue" of the sole survivor but didn't say if that person would stay in their custody or be handed over to the US. In a strike earlier in October, which had two survivors, the US military rescued the pair and later repatriated them to Colombia and Ecuador.

Hegseth posted footage of the strikes to social media in which two boats can be seen moving at speed through the water. One is visibly laden with a large amount of parcels or bundles; both then suddenly explode and are seen aflame. The third strike appears to have been conducted on a pair of boats that were stationary in the water alongside each other. They appear to be largely empty, with at least two people seen moving before an explosion engulfs both boats.