New US attack against alleged drug trafficking ship in the Caribbean kills three people and launches campaign

On Thursday, US forces attacked another suspected drug smuggling ship in the Caribbean, killing three people, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said, raising the death toll from Washington’s controversial anti-drug campaign to at least 70.

United States began carry out such strikes – which experts say amount to extrajudicial executions even if they target known traffickers – in beginning of septembertargeting vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The US attacks have destroyed at least 18 vessels so far: 17 ships and an alleged “narcosub” – but Washington has yet to release any concrete evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.

Hegseth released X aerial footage of the latest attack, which he said took place in international waters like the previous attacks and targeted “a ship operated by a designated terrorist organization.”

The video showed a boat sailing through the water before exploding into flames.

“Three male narcoterrorists, who were on board the ship, were killed,” Hegseth said, without providing further identifying information.

“To all the narcoterrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you continue trafficking deadly drugs, we will kill you,” he wrote.

Like some previous videos released by the US government, a section of the ship is obfuscated for unspecified reasons.

President Donald Trump’s administration has amassed significant forces in Latin America in what it says is its campaign to eradicate drug trafficking.

So far it has deployed six Navy ships in the Caribbean, sent stealth F-35s war planes to Puerto Ricoand ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

The governments and families of those killed in the US attacks have said that many of the dead were civilians, mainly fishermen.

president of venezuela Nicolas Maduro He has repeatedly accused Trump of trying to overthrow him.

When asked In an interview with “60 Minutes” last week, if Maduro’s “days were numbered,” Trump responded: “I would say yes. I think so.”

Mr. Trump last month also confirmed who had authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela. Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated several cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua.

American bombers have also staged shows of force near Venezuela, flying over the Caribbean Sea off the country’s coast on at least four occasions since mid-October.

Maduro, who has been indicted on drug charges in the United States, insists there is no drug cultivation in his country, which he says is used as a trafficking route for Colombian cocaine against his will.

The Trump administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the attacks.

The United Nations has asked the United States Human rights chief Volker Turk said the killings took place “in circumstances that find no justification in international law.”

Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed a small group of congressional leaders on Wednesday about the growing military campaign, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal logic and strategy behind the attacks.

Republicans emerged either remaining silent or expressing confidence in the campaign. Democrats said Congress needs more information about how the attacks are carried out and the legal justification for actions that critics say violate U.S. and international law by killing suspected drug traffickers on the high seas.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to reject the legislation That would have put a damper on Trump’s ability to launch an attack on Venezuela, as Democrats pressured Congress to take a bigger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against Maduro.

In August, the Trump administration doubled a reward for Maduro, offering a $50 million reward for his arrest.