Hegseth Says US Strikes Another Drug-Smuggling Boat, Killing 3 Onboard

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military carried out another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the Caribbean that was transporting illegal drugs to the United States on Nov. 6.

Hegseth stated on social media that the strike targeted a vessel run by a “designated terrorist organization,” killing three people on board whom he described as “narco-terrorists.”

“The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters,” he stated on X, noting that the strike was conducted under President Donald Trump’s direction.

No U.S. armed forces were harmed in the operation, according to the Pentagon chief.

This was the 17th reported U.S. military strike on drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to combat drug trafficking. More than 60 suspected drug traffickers have been killed in these strikes.

Hegseth warned that U.S. military operations against drug smuggling vessels will not stop until the illegal drug flow into the United States ends.

“As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their … poisoning of the American people stops,” he stated. “To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs.”

Since August, the U.S. military has increased its presence in waters off South America. This and the strikes against alleged drug smuggling vessels have fueled tensions with Venezuela, which Trump has accused of involvement in drug trafficking into the United States.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of backing drug cartels in his country. Maduro has denied the allegations, and Venezuelan officials have denounced the U.S. strikes as provocative.

During a CBS “60 Minutes” interview aired on Nov. 2, Trump said the heightened military activity in the region was a response to the illegal migration of Venezuelans to the United States and illegal drug trafficking.

When asked whether the United States would go to war with Venezuela, Trump said: “I doubt it. I don’t think so. But they’ve been treating us very badly, not only on drugs. They’ve dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country that we didn’t want.”

The Pentagon said on Oct. 24 that it was deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford, known as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, to the Southern Command area of responsibility—which encompasses Central America, South America, and the Caribbean—in support of counter-narcotics operations in the region.

The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said last month it was creating a new joint task force that would be led by the II Marine Expeditionary Force—a combined arms force made up of ground, air, and logistics forces—to “synchronize and augment counter-narcotics efforts across the Western Hemisphere.”

Hegseth said on Oct. 10 that the new task force would be operating in SOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility “to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.”