The US military has launched another attack on what it calls a narco-terrorist ship in the Caribbean, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, underscoring a broader campaign against drug-related militants.
The attack killed three suspected smugglers, Hegseth said, adding that the attack was carried out “at the direction of President Trump.”
“Today the Department of War conducted a deadly kinetic attack on another Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) narco-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean,” Hegseth wrote on X.
He continued: “It was known to our intelligence community that this vessel, like EVERYONE else, was involved in the illegal smuggling of narcotics, was transiting a known drug trafficking route and was carrying narcotics.”
The US attacks another suspected drug trafficking boat near Venezuela, killing 4
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in Tokyo on October 29, 2025. (Eugene Hoshiko / POOL / AFP)
“These narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home – and they won’t succeed,” Hegseth added, pledging that the US military will give them the same treatment as Al Qaeda: “We will continue to track them, map them, hunt them and kill them.”
Saturday’s announcement marks the 15th known U.S. operation against suspected narcoterror groups in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, part of what Hegseth has called an ongoing “maritime offensive” against transnational cartels.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirms that the US carried out a deadly attack on a suspected narco-terrorist ship in the Caribbean Sea on October 24, 2025. (Ministry of War)
The U.S. military has now killed at least 64 people in these operations, according to defense officials familiar with the campaign.
HEGSETH SAYS THE MILITARY CARRIED OUT ANOTHER ATTACK ON A BOAT CARRYING ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS
President Donald Trump has defended the strikes as a harsh measure to disrupt the flow of drugs into the United States, arguing that cartels have developed into transnational terrorist organizations and that America is engaged in an “armed conflict” with them under the same authority as after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The White House has resisted calls from lawmakers demanding more transparency about the legal rationale behind the operations — including which groups are being targeted and how violence is being authorized.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth briefs reporters during a press conference. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Senate Democrats renewed their calls for answers on Friday, sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Hegseth, urging the administration to make public its legal justifications and the list of entities that could be targeted under the president’s directive.
“We also request that you provide any legal opinions related to these strikes, as well as a list of the groups or other entities that the President believes may be targeted,” the senators wrote.
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The letter — signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and several senior Democrats, including Senators Jack Reed and Jeanne Shaheen — accuses the administration of selectively releasing conflicting information to certain lawmakers while keeping others in the dark.
In addition, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee released two previously undisclosed letters sent to Hegseth in late September and early October, pressuring the Pentagon to outline its legal framework for the strikes and identify which cartels the administration has formally designated as terrorist organizations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
