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US Defense Secretary announced a US strike on an ELN-affiliated vessel in the Caribbean, killing three narco-terrorists. The Trump administration claims 27 smugglers killed so far.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (AP)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday announced that a ship believed to be involved in illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean was hit by the US, killing three people.
In a post on X, Hegseth said: “On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organisation, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”
He further said: “The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was travelling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics. There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike—which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”
“These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people. The United States military will treat these organisations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed, just like Al Qaeda,” he added.
The defence secretary also shared a video of the strike.
On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.The… pic.twitter.com/1v7oR879LC
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 19, 2025
According to CNN, this was the seventh known strike in a series of recent attacks by the US military on vessels that the Trump administration says are involved in drug trafficking.
The United States has said that it has killed 27 drug smugglers so far, without providing evidence. On Tuesday, the US struck a small boat that Trump accused of carrying drugs in waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people. Experts say such summary killings are illegal, even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.
The Trump administration has asserted that killing suspected drug smugglers — rather than having the Coast Guard interdict boats and arrest people aboard them if suspicions of drug smuggling proved accurate — is consistent with the laws of war, according to The New York Times.
Hegseth has repeatedly defended the strikes, calling them necessary to protect US lives.
United States of America (USA)
October 19, 2025, 22:45 IST
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