Multiple people reportedly survived a U.S. strike on Thursday that targeted a boat carrying suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
An American official told Fox News that there were two to three survivors after the U.S. carried out a strike targeting a “big” drug boat that was partially submerged under water. A search and rescue helicopter was sent out to the site of the strike in international waters, according to Fox News. Reuters first reported news of the survivors.
No other details on the strike were immediately available.
The Trump administration has ordered at least five strikes targeting suspected drug traffickers, but the others have left no known survivors. At least 27 suspected drug traffickers have been killed in the previous strikes, according to U.S. officials.
Thursday’s attack was the second this week, following another strike announced by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” Trump added. “The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!”
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Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that he had established a new counter-narcotics task force that was directed to “crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.”
“The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold,” Hegseth warned.
The strikes have been opposed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who claims the Trump administration is targeting civilians. Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct lethal operations in Venezuela, claiming that President Nicolás Maduro has “emptied” his prisons into the United States and that “a lot of drugs are coming” from Venezuela.
Trump has told Congress that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that he has designated as terrorist organizations. That came after the State Department classified violent gangs like Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations.
