A statement provided by a Pentagon official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the operation, said the strikes were conducted off the coast of Colombia. Following one attack on a boat, the military spotted a person in the water clinging to some wreckage.
The military passed the survivor’s precise location to the U.S. Coast Guard and a Mexican military aircraft that was operating in the area.
Hegseth said Mexican search and rescue authorities “assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor but didn’t say if that person was successfully rescued or would stay in Mexico’s custody or be handed over to the U.S.
Hegseth posted footage of the latest strikes to social media in which two boats can be seen moving through the water in separate clips. One is visibly laden with a large amount of parcels or bundles. Both then suddenly explode and are seen in flames.
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.
Hegseth said “the four vessels were known by our intelligence apparatus, transiting along known narco-trafficking routes, and carrying narcotics.”
The Trump administration has shown no evidence to support its claims about the boats, their connection to drug cartels, or the even the identity of the people killed in these strikes.
The death toll from the 13 disclosed strikes since early September now stands at at least 57 people.
He claimed that cartels “have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same.”
