The U.S. military has killed six more people in strikes on what it claims were drug-running boats, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday, bringing the total death toll in the series of attacks to 76.
Hegseth said in a post on X that the U.S. carried out two strikes on Sunday in international waters in the eastern Pacific, targeting two boats that were “carrying narcotics” with three “male narco-terrorists” on board each.
“All 6 were killed. No U.S. forces were harmed,” he said.
As in previous strikes, which began under President Trump’s administration in September, U.S. officials did not release the identities of those killed, or offer evidence that they were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the United States.
Experts say the strikes, which have taken place in both the Pacific and Caribbean, amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers.
Hegseth said the two vessels were “operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.” He did not name the groups.
Pete Hegseth/X
The Trump administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the strikes.
Video accompanying the post showed a strike on one boat sitting stationary in the water, and a separate open-top vessel exploding while underway.
A short video clip in color of the moving vessel shows what appear to be several parcels loaded inside. No details can be made out on the stationary vessel, which appears in black-and-white video.
U.S. strikes have now destroyed at least 20 vessels so far — 19 boats and an alleged “narco sub.”
“Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people,” Hegseth said.
The strikes on alleged drug traffickers have coincided with a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. So far it has deployed six Navy ships in the Caribbean, sent F-35 stealth warplanes to Puerto Rico, and ordered the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group to the region.
The governments and families of those killed in the U.S. strikes have said many of the dead were civilians — primarily fishermen.
Washington says their mission is to combat drug trafficking, but Caracas views the ships as a threat to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who has repeatedly accused Mr. Trump of seeking to oust him.
When asked in an interview with “60 Minutes” last week if Maduro’s “days were numbered,” Mr. Trump responded, “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”
Mr. Trump last month also confirmed that he had authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the U.N. rights chief urged Washington on Monday to investigate the legality of the strikes, warning of “strong indications” of “extrajudicial killings.”
“I have called for investigations by the US administration first and foremost, because they need to… ask themselves the question: are these violations of international human rights law? Are they extrajudicial killings? I mean, there are strong indications that they are, but they need to investigate this,” Volker Turk told AFP in an interview.
The United Nations previously asked the United States to cease its campaign, with Turk saying the killings have taken place “in circumstances that find no justification in international law.”
Last week, Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Mr. Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Mr. Trump’s high-stakes campaign against Maduro.
In August, the Trump administration doubled a bounty for Maduro, offering a $50 million reward for his arrest.