(MENAFN) On October 17, the United States executed a lethal attack against a ship it identified as connected to Colombia’s Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) guerilla group and involved in drug smuggling, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

He confirmed that all three men aboard the vessel were killed, while no American personnel were injured in the operation.

Hegseth revealed that the strike was authorized by President Donald Trump and occurred in international waters within the jurisdiction of the US Southern Command.

He added that US intelligence had tracked the vessel as it traveled along a well-known narcotics trafficking corridor, carrying a significant quantity of illegal drugs.

In a message posted on the social media platform X, Hegseth referred to those killed as “male narco-terrorists” and framed the US initiative against drug trafficking organizations as part of a wider strategy to classify such groups as terrorist entities.

“These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people,” he asserted.

He further emphasized that “The United States military will treat these organizations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed, just like Al Qaeda.”

According to various US news organizations and officials, this strike is the most recent in a sequence of counternarcotics actions in the region, which have included attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels.

The Department of Defense has provided only limited details regarding the operation, though Hegseth shared video footage alongside his statement.

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