The US military carried out a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean on Thursday, killing three people, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
“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 on X.
“The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters.”
He added that no US forces were harmed.
The strike is part of a broader campaign that has killed 70 people in 17 attacks and destroyed 18 boats since September 2, according to US officials.
Only three people survived previous strikes; two were briefly detained before being returned to their countries, while another is presumed dead after a Mexican Navy search.
The Trump administration told Congress it considers the campaign an “armed conflict” against drug cartels and labels those killed as “unlawful combatants.”
This, it claims, allows strikes without judicial review based on a classified Justice Department opinion.
Lawmakers and human rights groups have questioned the policy, arguing suspected traffickers should be prosecuted. The administration has yet to provide public evidence linking targeted boats to drug cartels.
Officials have also tried to tie Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to the drug trade while expanding US military presence near Venezuela.
However, the US says it is not currently planning strikes inside the country, and legal opinions authorizing maritime actions do not extend to land targets.
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