U.S. forces killed three men aboard an alleged drug smuggling vessel in the Caribbean on Saturday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
The military conducted the strike at the direction of President Donald Trump, against a boat operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization, Hegseth wrote on X. The vessel was traveling along a known narcotrafficking route in international waters and carrying narcotics, according to intelligence reports. No U.S. forces were injured in the operation.
“These narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home—and they will not succeed,” Hegseth said. “The Department will treat them EXACTLY how we treated Al-Qaeda. We will continue to track them, map them, hunt them, and kill them.” (RELATED: Cartel Boat Obliterated By US Navy With Over 2,000 Pounds Of Cocaine Aboard)
Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Caribbean.
This vessel—like EVERY OTHER—was known by our intelligence to be… pic.twitter.com/W7xqeMpSUi
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 2, 2025
The strike continues a controversial campaign that began in early September. The Trump administration has directed the Defense Department to target alleged drug smuggling operations in the Caribbean Sea and East Pacific, killing more than 64 people in international waters.
Some members of Congress oppose these military operations. Democratic and Republican lawmakers received a classified briefing Thursday and left the meeting frustrated. House Armed Services Committee Democrats questioned the strikes’ legality and said they remained unclear about the administration’s objectives.
“Our job is to oversee the use of lethal force by our military outside of the United States, and I’m walking away without an understanding of how and why they’re making an assessment that the use of lethal force is adequate here,” Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado told reporters after the briefing, as reported by The Hill.
Hegseth posted video footage showing an explosion at sea following the latest strike.
