The U.S. military killed five alleged drug smugglers in strikes against two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, in an expansion of the Trump administration's use of the armed forces in its counter-narcotics campaign.

The U.S. military has carried out another airstrike on an alleged drug cartel vessel -- the second vessel to be hit in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in as many days. The latest strike was announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a social media post on Wednesday that also included video of the attack,

This is the eighth US strike on alleged drug trafficking vessels near Latin America, the first on the Pacific side.

The U.S. said Wednesday it had struck a suspected drug boat on the Pacific side of South America, signaling a widening of its campaign against alleged drug trafficking and transnational crime.

The latest attacks, a departure from the seven previous US strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean Sea, bring the death toll to at least 37 in the Trump administration's crackdown on suspected drug trafficking boats.

The U.S. military has launched its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing three people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean

These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities," Hegseth continued. The post was accompanied by a video that appears to show a boat catching fire after being struck by a US bomb.

The U.S. has struck two alleged drug vessels on the Pacific side of Latin America over the last two days, killing five people, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday. The Trump administration has now carried out nine known strikes against alleged narcotics trafficking boats since last month,