WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) The U.S. military executed another deadly operation targeting suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea, as revealed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday.
In a social media update, Hegseth stated that the attacked vessel was linked to a U.S.-designated terrorist group, though he did not disclose the specific organization involved. The strike resulted in the deaths of three individuals.
This marks at least the 15th such military action in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since the start of September.
“Our intelligence confirmed that this vessel, like all others targeted, was engaged in illegal drug smuggling, traveling along a recognized trafficking route, and transporting narcotics,” Hegseth conveyed in a post on X.
Through these operations, the U.S. military has eliminated at least 64 individuals.
Former President Trump defended the strikes as a critical measure to curb drug influx into the United States. He characterized the campaign as an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, invoking the same legal framework that the Bush administration employed to declare a war on terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
U.S. lawmakers have been repeatedly rebuffed by the White House in their demand that the administration release more information about the legal justification for the strikes as well as greater details about which cartels have been targeted and the individuals killed.
Hegseth in his Saturday posting announcing the latest strike said “narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home” and the Defense Department “will treat them EXACTLY how we treated Al-Qaeda.”
Senate Democrats renewed their request for more information about the strikes in a letter on Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Hegseth.
“We also request that you provide all legal opinions related to these strikes and a list of the groups or other entities the President has deemed targetable,” the senators wrote.
Among those signing the letter were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as Sens. Jack Reed, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Warner, Chris Coons, Patty Murray and Brian Schatz.
The letter says that thus far the administration “has selectively shared what has at times been contradictory information” with some members, “while excluding others.”
Earlier Friday, the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee released a pair of letters sent to Hegseth written in late September and early October requesting the department’s legal rationale for the strikes and the list of drug cartels that the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations in its justification for the use of military force.
