US Conducts Another Airstrike in Caribbean, Kills Three Suspected Drug Traffickers.
The United States military has carried out another precision airstrike in the Caribbean Sea, killing three suspected drug smugglers aboard a vessel allegedly linked to narcotics trafficking, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Saturday.
In a post on X, Hegseth said the targeted vessel was reportedly operated by a US-designated terrorist organisation, though he did not disclose its identity. He added that the strike was part of an ongoing campaign to dismantle transnational “narco-terror networks” responsible for smuggling illicit substances into the US.
“This vessel—like every other one before it—was confirmed by intelligence to be trafficking narcotics along a known smuggling corridor,” Hegseth wrote. “Narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home, and we will treat them exactly as we treated Al-Qaeda.”
This marks the 15th US airstrike in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September and raises the total number of people killed to at least 64, according to official figures.
President Donald Trump defended the continued military operations, calling them a “necessary escalation” aimed at curbing the flow of drugs into the country. He asserted that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels, invoking the same legal authority used during the post-9/11 war on terror.
However, the strikes have sparked mounting criticism from lawmakers, who are pressing the White House to release the legal justifications for the campaign and identify which groups are being targeted.
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