The United States military today struck another boat in the eastern Pacific it claimed was trafficking drugs, killing four people, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.

The strike occurred in international waters, the Defence Secretary announced on X, like others carried out in recent weeks as part of US President Donald Trump’s controversial anti-drug campaign, which has now left at least 62 people dead.

A video accompanying Hegseth’s post showed a boat floating stationary in the water before a large explosion and subsequent fire.

Like previous videos released by the US Government, areas on the boat are obfuscated, rendering it impossible to verify how many people were on board.

“This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said.

The strike is part of US President Donald Trump's anti-drug campaign, which has left at least 62 people dead. Photo / Handout, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's X Account via AFP

Besides videos of the strikes, Washington has yet to make public any evidence that its targets have been smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the US.

The deadly attack comes two days after multiple strikes on four boats killed 14 people in the eastern Pacific and left one survivor.

The US asked Mexico to attempt to rescue the survivor, but Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said today that search efforts had failed.

-Agence France-Presse