A U.S. military strike in the Caribbean has killed six men aboard a vessel allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

U.S. defense officials reported that the overnight strike targeted a boat they said was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, a group described by U.S. authorities as a violent criminal organisation.

The strike was carried out in international waters and was the first nighttime strike since the campaign began in September.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on the social media platform X that U.S. intelligence assessed the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics trafficking and was transiting along a known smuggling route.

He added that all six men on board were killed in the strike and that no U.S. forces were harmed, while sharing a video that appears to show a small boat being struck and exploding.

President Donald Trump has said his administration will brief Congress on the operations against drug cartels and indicated that attacks could expand to cartel operations on land, according to public statements.

Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.

The vessel was known by our… pic.twitter.com/lVlw0FLBv4

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 24, 2025

In recent months, the U.S. military has increased its presence in the Caribbean, deploying F‑35 fighter jets, guided-missile destroyers, a nuclear submarine, and thousands of troops, officials said.

This strike is part of a U.S. campaign against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. So far, there have been about ten attacks, and nearly 40 people have been killed.

The Pentagon has provided only limited operational details about those attacks, but officials have said some strikes occurred near Venezuela.

Legal experts and some lawmakers have expressed concern about the campaign, questioning whether the strikes comply with international law and the laws of war.

Per reports, at least two people survived a prior strike and were rescued aboard a U.S. Navy ship before being repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly accused the U.S. of attempting to remove him from power. U.S. officials have cited links between Maduro and drug trafficking, and in August Washington doubled the reward for information leading to his arrest to $50 million, a claim Maduro has denied.

Reference: Reuters