US Carries Out Fresh Airstrike In Caribbean, Claims To Have Killed 3 Alleged Drug Smugglers

US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during a roundtable on criminal cartels in the State Dining Room of the White House, in Washington, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens. (IMAGE: AP PHOTO)

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said that the US military has carried out another lethal strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea, eliminating three aboard vessels allegedly smuggling drugs.

Hegseth made the announcement via a social media post where he shared that the vessel was allegedly being operated by a US-designated terrorist organization but did not name which group was targeted.

This recent airstrike could be the the 15th such strike carried out by the US military in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September.

“This vessel—like EVERY OTHER—was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” Hegseth said in a posting on X.

Hegseth announced 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.”

The US military has now killed at least 64 people in the strikes.

US President Donald Trump has justified the airstrikes and said these were a “necessary escalation” to halt the flow of drugs into the US.

Trump claims that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. The Republican is relying on the same legal authority his predecessor and fellow Republican George W. Bush relied on when it declared a war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The White House continues to rebuff lawmakers as they demand that the Trump 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.