https://t.co/AYyPZuUsm9 pic.twitter.com/1gY3vBnvqa
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) October 14, 2025
The United States military confirmed that it carried out another strike on a suspected drug vessel off the coast of the Caribbean on Thursday. However, multiple people are believed to have survived this time. The status of the survivors is unclear, according to two officials.
The US has been deploying several military vessels to the Caribbean Sea to launch strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug smuggling vessels. There have been at least six strikes on six separate boats to date.
Thursday's strike was not made public, however, unlike the previous ones.
This is the first time a strike did not kill everyone on the boat instantly, Reuters reported.
The Pentagon is yet to make a comment.
According to a report in the CNN, the Trump administration produced a classified legal opinion that justified the strikes against a certain secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers. They argued that they were fighting Venezuelan narcoterrorists, which made the strikes legitimate.
On Tuesday, the US military had bombed an alleged Venezuelan drug boat killing its six passengers, according to a video posted by Trump on Truth Social.
Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, had condemned the attacks, which have now killed at least 27 people, and labelled them a "series of assassinations." Moncada said that two of those killed on Tuesday were fishermen and not drug traffickers from Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro had suggested that some of those who were killed were from his country.
Legal experts and Democrats have questioned the legality of the attacks and whether they adhered to the laws of war.
On Wednesday, Trump said that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, which added to speculation in Caracas that the US is attempting to topple President Nicolas Maduro.
"We are certainly looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
