US kills 14 in strikes on four alleged drug boats in Pacific

US forces have killed 14 people in strikes on four alleged drug boats in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

Mexico's navy says it is still searching for a lone survivor approximately 400 miles from the Pacific coastal city of Acapulco.

It is the latest in a series of attacks on boats the US says have been carrying drugs in both the Pacific and Caribbean.

The latest strikes in the eastern Pacific, which Hegseth said happened on Monday at the direction of President Donald Trump, mark an escalation in what it has cast as a campaign to stop narcotics from entering the US.

The strikes have drawn condemnation in the region and experts have questioned their legality. Members of the US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have also raised concerns and questioned the president's authority to order them.

At least 57 people have now been killed in the strikes, which has led to increasing tensions between the US and the governments of both Colombia and Venezuela.

Most strikes have taken place off the coast of South America, in the Caribbean, but recently the US has turned its attention to the Pacific Ocean as well.

In a statement on X, Hegseth said the four vessels that were hit on Monday "were known by our intelligence apparatus, transitioning along known narco-trafficking routes and carrying narcotics".

He added that eight "narco-terrorists" were killed in the first strike. Four and three were killed in the following two strikes.

One person survived the strikes. According to Hegseth, Mexican search-and-rescue authorities "accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue."

The condition of the survivor or his current whereabouts are unclear. Mexico's navy said in a statement that it had dispatched a patrol boat and an aircraft to conduct search operations to "safeguard human life at sea".

At least four of the strikes have so far taken place in the Pacific, which is a far more significant drug-trafficking corridor, with the rest taking place in the Caribbean.

President Trump has said he has the legal authority to continue bombing boats in international waters, but suggested last week that he may seek approval from Congress if the campaign is expanded to include targets on land.

In the Caribbean, the US has deployed troops, aircraft and naval vessels and last week ordered the world's largest warship - the USS Gerald R Ford - to the area. (Source: BBC News)