Washington DC - US forces killed two people in a strike on a boat that Washington claims was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

The US began carrying out such strikes – which experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers – in early September, and has now killed at least 67 people in the Caribbean and Pacific.

"Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. The strike was conducted in international waters in the Eastern Pacific," Hegseth said in a post on X that included a video of a boat being engulfed in flames.

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"We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens. Protecting the homeland is our TOP priority," he added.

The US strikes have destroyed at least 17 vessels so far – 16 boats and a semi-submersible – but Washington has yet to make public any evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the US.

The victims' governments and families have said many of those killed were civilians – many of them fishermen.

The announced drug interdiction operation has seen a major US military buildup around Latin America.

The US has deployed multiple warships as well as F-35 stealth warplanes, and ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the region.