Oct. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Sunday that the United States conducted a strike against a seventh boat Friday as the Trump administration ramps up its war on alleged drug smuggling.
Hegseth said in a statement on social media that the strike was conducted at the direction of the president on a vessel allegedly affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a militant political group in Colombia that has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States for decades.
"The 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," Hegseth said.
"There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike -- which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed, and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike."
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