14 alleged drug smugglers killed in US military strikes in Pacific ocean2Photo© hindustantimes.com

14 alleged drug smugglers killed in US military strikes in Pacific ocean

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U.S. forces killed 14 people in strikes that destroyed four alleged drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday (October 28, 2025), bringing the death toll from Washington's controversial anti-narcotics campaign to at least 57.

The United States began carrying out the strikes — which experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers — in early September, and has now destroyed at least 14 vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific.

In three strikes carried out Monday (October 27, 2025) in international waters, 14 "narco-terrorists" were killed and one survived, Mr. Hegseth said in a post on X — making it the deadliest day of the U.S. campaign so far.