U.S. Strike Kills Three Alleged Narco-Terrorists Linked to Colombian Rebel Group
Key Facts
- U.S. military strike kills three suspected narco-terrorists aboard vessel linked to Colombia’s ELN.
- Operation authorized by President Trump and carried out in international waters.
- Colombia’s President Petro disputes claim, says victims were local fishermen.
- Strike marks latest in expanding U.S. campaign targeting regional drug cartels.
by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff
Washington / Bogotá (Worthy News) – U.S. forces carried out a deadly strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in international waters Friday, killing three men believed to be affiliated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN), officials confirmed Sunday.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the operation, describing it as a “lethal kinetic strike” authorized by President Donald Trump. “The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics,” Hegseth wrote on X.
He said the strike was conducted without U.S. casualties. “All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed,” Hegseth noted, sharing unclassified video footage showing the moment of impact.
The ELN, or Ejército de Liberación Nacional, is designated by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization. Hegseth compared its operations to Al Qaeda, calling Latin America’s drug cartels “the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere.”
“These cartels use violence, murder, and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security, and poison our people,” he said. “They will be hunted and killed, just like Al Qaeda.”
However, Colombian President Gustavo Petro disputed the U.S. account, claiming the targeted vessel was a civilian fishing boat. “The fisherman’s boat from Santa Marta was not from the ELN; it belonged to a humble family, lovers of the sea,” Petro said on X, identifying one of the deceased as Alejandro Carranza. “What do you say to that family? Explain to me why you helped assassinate a humble fisherman from Santa Marta.”
Friday’s strike is part of an expanding U.S. campaign targeting maritime drug smuggling in the Caribbean and off the northern coast of South America. The operations, which began last month, have killed at least 31 suspected smugglers.
Earlier in the week, U.S. forces struck a “very large drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean, killing two suspects and capturing two others. Another strike Tuesday killed six alleged traffickers aboard a vessel off Venezuela’s coast.
Hegseth reaffirmed that Washington’s offensive against transnational drug cartels will continue “until these terror networks are dismantled.”
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