Pete Hegseth Announces New Strike on ‘Narco-Terrorists’ in Caribbean

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces had attacked a vessel operated by “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean, killing three people on board.

Why It Matters

The U.S. has stepped up its efforts to counter drug trafficking in the waters off South America, saying the American public has to be protected from the scourge of narcotics.

Some critics of the U.S. campaign say it amounts to extrajudicial killing and that its main objective is the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. U.S. officials accuse Maduro of aiding narcotics networks. Caracas, in turn, has accused Washington of seeking regime change.

What To Know

“Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization,” Hegseth said in a post to X.

“The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters. No U.S. forces were harmed in the strike, and three male narco-terrorists — who were aboard the vessel — were killed,” he said.

Including the three on Thursday, at least 69 people have been killed in strikes by U.S. forces on vessels allegedly smuggling drugs to the United States through Caribbean and Pacific waters, according to figures from the Trump administration.

Critics say that the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean amount to extrajudicial killings and raise significant legal concerns.

Senate Republicans on October 8 blocked a measure proposed by their Democratic colleagues designed to halt the attacks. A Democratic resolution would have blocked the U.S. military from engaging in hostilities with “any non-state organization engaged in the promotion, trafficking, and distribution of illegal drugs and other related activities” without congressional authorization.

Earlier on Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump’s campaign against Maduro.

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Trump declined to say if he was considering land strikes in Venezuela but he did say that he thought Maduro’s days were numbered.

What People Are Saying

Hegseth, in his post to X: “As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their the [sic] poisoning of the American people stops…To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you keep trafficking deadly drugs – we will kill you.”