US forces have struck another vessel alleged to be carrying drugs, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon has confirmed. According to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, two people on board the vessel were killed. No US forces were harmed. The vessel was known to US intelligence and was believed to be carrying drugs along a known trafficking route in international waters, Hegseth added. The strike marks the eighth US strike against suspected drug boats since 2 September - but the first in the Pacific. Video of the strike appears to show a long, blue speed boat moving through the water before being struck by US ordinance. Narco-terrorists intending to bring position to our shores will find no safe harbour anywhere in our hemisphere, Hegseth wrote on X. Just as Al Qaeda wages war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness - only justice, he added. A recent leaked memo sent to US lawmakers indicated that the Trump administration determined it was involved in a non-international armed conflict with drug-trafficking organizations. At least 36 people have been killed in the American strikes on alleged drug boats, including a recent strike on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean. Two men survived a strike last week and were repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador. Ecuador's government later released one identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing. The other man, from Colombia, reportedly remains hospitalized. US President Donald Trump and administration officials have repeatedly justified the strikes as counter-narcotics measures necessary to fight drug-trafficking organizations, several of which have been designated as terrorist organizations by the US. The strike took place in international waters near Colombia, highlighting rising tensions between Trump's administration and the Colombian government under President Gustavo Petro. Trump has criticized Petro as an illegal drug leader and announced the US will no longer provide subsidies to Colombia, a historically close ally. US estimates indicate that the majority of cocaine bound for US cities passes through the Pacific, with growing drug seizures noted in the Caribbean. Details on the identities of those killed in these strikes remain limited as the US bolsters its military presence in the Caribbean in an ongoing operation against drug trafficking.