Hegseth says another US strike in the Caribbean targeted an alleged drug smuggling boat, killing 6 people

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has carried out its 10th raid on a suspected drug-smuggling boat, blaming the Tren de Aragua gang for operating the ship and killing six people in the Caribbean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.

In a social media post, Hegseth said the strike occurred overnight, and this is the second time the Trump administration has linked one of its operations to the gang, which originated in a Venezuelan prison.

Read more: The US military has built up a significant force in the Caribbean. Here’s what’s out there

The pace of strikes has accelerated in recent days from one every few weeks in September when they first began to three this week. Two of the raids were carried out this week in the eastern Pacific, expanding the area where the military has been launching its attacks and where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.

In a 20-second black-and-white video posted on social media, a small boat can be seen sitting seemingly motionless on the water when a long, thin projectile falls on it, causing it to explode. The video ends before the explosion subsides enough to see the remains of the boat again.

Hegseth said the raid took place in international waters and boasted that it was the first to take place at night.

“If you are a dope terrorist smuggling drugs in our Western Hemisphere, we will treat you as we treat Al Qaeda,” Hegseth said in the post. “Day or night, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

The strike also came hours after the US military sent two supersonic heavy bombers to the coast of Venezuela on Thursday. The trip was just the latest step in what has been an unusually large military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and waters off Venezuela that has raised speculation that President Donald Trump may try to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro faces drug-related terrorism charges in the United States

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino has told his military commanders that the US government knows that drug trafficking accusations used to support recent actions in the Caribbean are false, and that its real goal is to “force regime change” in the South American country.

Hegseth’s recent comments about the strikes have begun to draw a direct comparison between the war on terrorism declared by the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the Trump administration’s crackdown on drug traffickers.

When reporters asked Trump on Thursday whether he would ask Congress to issue a war declaration against the gangs, he said that was not the plan.

“I think we’re going to kill people who bring drugs into our country, okay? We’re going to kill them, you know? They’re going to be dead,” Trump said during a White House roundtable with Homeland Security officials.

Lawmakers from both major political parties have expressed concerns about Trump issuing orders for military operations without obtaining congressional authorization or providing many details. Democrats insist the strikes violate international law.

“Expanding geography simply expands the chaos and reckless use of the U.S. military without apparent legal or practical justification,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this week.

This month, Trump declared the drug cartels illegal combatants and said the United States was waging an “armed conflict” with them.

Despite concerns from some lawmakers, the Republican-controlled Senate voted against a Democratic-sponsored war powers resolution that would have required the president to get authorization from Congress before launching further military strikes.