The US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, announced on Saturday that three “narcoterrorists” were killed in a new attack on a vessel allegedly involved in drug trafficking in Caribbean waters. Through his X account late at night, the head of the US Department of War stated that “at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal strike against another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Caribbean. This vessel was known by our intelligence services for its participation in the illicit smuggling of narcotics, was traveling on a known drug trafficking route, and was carrying narcotics,” he assured. According to Hegseth, “three narcoterrorists were on board” and were killed in the new attack, which the official said was carried out in international waters. He also detailed that “no US service members were injured” and reiterated that drug traffickers “are introducing drugs into our coasts to poison Americans in their own country, and they will not succeed. The Department will treat them EXACTLY as we treat Al-Qaeda. We will continue to track them, locate them, hunt them, and eliminate them.” The most recent attack by the US Department of War was carried out last Wednesday against a boat attributed to drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, in an operation in which four people on board were killed. Hegseth also reported at the time that the vessel was identified by intelligence services and “was traveling on a known drug trafficking route and carrying narcotics.” “Four male narcoterrorists were on the vessel and died,” Hegseth added that day. With this new attack, a total of 16 vessels have been destroyed by the US in international waters, some in the Pacific, which the US government linked to drug trafficking activities, since the beginning of the Southern Command's military campaign, which was initially focused on the Caribbean, near Venezuelan waters. Last week, US President Donald Trump stated that he does not rule out attacks on land targets in Venezuela and Colombia, always related to drug trafficking, and added that if he carries out these operations, he will notify Congress.
