U.S. strike towards alleged drug vessel in Caribbean kills six: Pentagon

A U.S. strike towards an alleged drug vessel killed six suspected “narco-terrorists” within the Caribbean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned on Friday (October 24, 2025), the newest operation in President Donald Trump’s counter-drug marketing campaign within the area.

In a publish on X, Mr. Hegseth mentioned this was the primary strike carried out at evening as a part of the marketing campaign which started in September. The strike came about in a single day and the vessel was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, he added.

While Mr. Hegseth didn’t present any proof of what the vessel was carrying, he posted a roughly 20-second video which appeared to indicate the vessel in water earlier than being hit by at the least one projectile and exploding.

Mr. Trump mentioned on Thursday (October 23) that his administration plans to transient the U.S. Congress on operations towards drug cartels and that despite the fact that he didn’t want a declaration of warfare, operations towards cartels on land can be subsequent.

The U.S. army has been growing its presence within the Caribbean, together with deployments of guided-missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and 1000’s of troops.

Along with the newest strike, the United States has carried out 10 assaults on suspected drug vessels within the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, killing practically 40 individuals. While the Pentagon has offered little data, it has mentioned a few of these strikes have been towards vessels close to Venezuela.

The strikes have raised alarms amongst some authorized consultants and Democratic lawmakers, who query whether or not they adhere to the legal guidelines of warfare.

Last week, Reuters was first to report that two alleged drug traffickers survived a U.S. army strike within the Caribbean. They had been rescued and dropped at a U.S. Navy warship earlier than being repatriated to their dwelling international locations of Colombia and Ecuador.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly alleged that the U.S. is hoping to drive him from energy. Washington in August doubled its reward for data resulting in Mr. Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, accusing him of hyperlinks to drug trafficking and prison teams that Mr. Maduro denies.