WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. strike on a suspected drug ship killed six suspected “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, the latest operation in President Donald Trump’s anti-drug campaign in the region.
In a post on X, Hegseth said this was the first attack carried out at night as part of the campaign that began in September. The attack occurred at night and the vessel was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, he added.
Although Hegseth did not provide any evidence of what the vessel was carrying, he published a roughly 20-second video that appeared to show the vessel in the water before it was struck by at least one projectile and exploded.
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Trump said Thursday that his administration plans to brief the U.S. Congress on operations against drug cartels and that while he does not need a declaration of war, operations against cartels on land would be next.
The US military has increased its presence in the Caribbean, including sending guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and thousands of troops.
Along with the most recent attack, the United States carried out 10 attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, killing nearly 40 people. While the Pentagon provided little information, it said some of those attacks were against vessels near Venezuela.
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The attacks have alarmed some legal experts and Democratic lawmakers, who question whether they comply with the laws of war.
Last week, Reuters was the first to report that two suspected drug traffickers survived a US military raid in the Caribbean. They were rescued and taken to a US Navy warship before being repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the US hopes to remove him from power. In August, Washington doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups, which Maduro denies.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart)
