Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. military on Thursday struck another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, as the Trump administration comes under mounting scrutiny and criticism over the attacks.
The "lethal kinetic strike" killed four men, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement, saying it was at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On X, U.S. Southern Command published a 21-second black-and-white video of the Wednesday strike, showing a top-down view of a boat traveling on the ocean. At about the 6-second mark of the video, the boat erupts in flames.
"The vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific," the U.S. Southern Command said.
On Dec. 4, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and... pic.twitter.com/pqksvxM3HP— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 4, 2025
