WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. military has "had a bit of a pause because it's hard to find boats to strike right now" in the Caribbean Sea.
Speaking at a White House cabinet meeting hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, Hegseth said drugs coming into the United States by sea are down 91 percent, without providing the source of the data or what the other 9 percent is.
"We've only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they've been poisoning the American people," said Hegseth.
Hegseth has been in hot water since The Washington Post reported Friday that he issued a verbal order to "kill everybody" aboard boats suspected of transporting illegal drugs.
Later on Friday, Hegseth said on X that "the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland."
"Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict," he said, but didn't directly deny that he authorized the second strike.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that Hegseth authorized a second strike aiming to kill survivors on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2.
Over the weekend, the Republican-led armed services committees in both the House and Senate announced they were opening bipartisan inquiries into the second U.S. strike aiming to kill the survivors from the first boat strike.
Since early September, the Pentagon has carried out more than 20 known strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 80 people aboard. ■