A U.S. official confirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. Military expanded its anti-drug campaign by striking a suspected drug ship in Pacific Ocean waters near South America late on Tuesday. This is the first U.S. military strike in the Pacific Ocean since the Trump administration launched a new anti-drug campaign that led to seven strikes in Caribbean waters and increased U.S. tensions in Venezuela and Colombia. The official did not give any further details, but said that there were several people on board the ship when it was hit.

The Pentagon didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

CBS News was the first to report the latest strike. It comes amid a U.S. buildup of military forces in the Caribbean, including guided missile destroyers and F-35 fighter planes, as well as a nuclear sub and 6,500 soldiers. Legal experts have questioned the U.S. Military's decision to carry out the attacks instead of the Coast Guard - the U.S. main maritime law enforcement agency - and why there aren't other attempts to stop the shipments before resorting deadly strikes.

The Coast Guard began Operation Viper in August to intercept drugs in the Pacific Ocean. The Coast Guard reported that it had seized more than 100,000 pounds cocaine as of October 15. The administration did not explain why it chose to strike the vessel instead of attempting an interdiction.

We were the first to report last week that two suspected drug traffickers had survived a U.S. air strike in Caribbean. The two alleged drug traffickers were brought aboard a U.S. Navy ship before being returned to their native countries, Colombia and Ecuador.

The attacks in the Caribbean killed at least 32, but the Trump Administration has not provided many details. For example, it did not provide any information about how much alleged drug the vessels carried or what evidence they had that indicated the vessels were carrying drugs. Reporting by Idrees Al and Phil Stewart. Editing by Franklin Paul and Chizu Nomiyama. Nia Williams.

(source: Reuters)