Just after sunset on October 24, 2025, the Caribbean Sea witnessed a dramatic escalation in the United States’ campaign against drug trafficking, as U.S. forces launched a nighttime strike that obliterated a vessel allegedly operated by Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua criminal group. According to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, all six people aboard—described as “narco-terrorists”—were killed, and no American personnel were harmed. The operation, authorized by President Donald Trump, marked the first night strike of his administration’s intensifying effort to disrupt drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere, as reported by Reuters and BNO News.
The targeted boat was traversing a well-known narcotics-smuggling route in international waters, and officials claim it was “carrying narcotics” when it was struck. Hegseth was unequivocal in his message: “If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat al-Qaeda.” He reinforced this stance with a 20-second video posted to social media, showing the vessel afloat before being hit by at least one projectile and erupting in a fiery explosion, as reported by Economic Times and Reuters.
This strike is only the latest in a series of U.S. military actions against suspected drug-running boats in the region. Since early September, the U.S. has conducted 10 such strikes—eight in the Caribbean and two in the eastern Pacific—resulting in at least 43 deaths, according to NBC News and McClatchy News. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group has been redeployed to the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility, a move Assistant Secretary of War Sean Parnell said would expand operations against transnational criminal organizations.
The Trump administration has dramatically increased the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, deploying guided-missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine, and thousands of troops. The Pentagon has provided only limited information about these operations, but it has confirmed that several of the strikes have targeted vessels near Venezuela, as noted by Economic Times and Reuters.
While the White House insists these actions are part of a transparent campaign to fulfill Trump’s promises to combat cartels, the secrecy surrounding the operations has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers. In interviews with McClatchy News, seven Democratic senators and representatives voiced concerns about the lack of transparency and congressional oversight. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal accused the administration of “abjectly failing to provide essential facts the American people deserve,” including who is financing and operating the boats and what, precisely, they are carrying.
Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois added, “No evidence has been provided indicating the vessels were hostile or armed. These attacks raise so many troubling questions. Were there civilians on board?” Her concerns are not unfounded: Colombian President Gustavo Petro recently claimed that a U.S. strike killed a poor Colombian fisherman wrongly accused of drug trafficking, a story reported by The Guardian and referenced by lawmakers.
Legal and ethical concerns have mounted as the campaign has intensified. “Trump appears hell-bent on carrying out these unconstitutional and unlawful military strikes,” Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley told McClatchy News, adding that the administration is “flirting with regime change.” California Representative Ami Bera emphasized, “The administration’s failure to seek congressional authorization for these strikes raises serious legal concerns.”
Indeed, Congress has not declared war since 1942, and while it can issue Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs), no such authorization has been granted for these operations. The White House, however, maintains that the president is acting within his authority as commander-in-chief to respond to imminent threats, citing precedents set by previous administrations. A senior official pointed out that President Obama conducted hundreds of drone strikes without congressional authorization, a fact acknowledged in statements to McClatchy News.
Some lawmakers, including Senators Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff, and Rand Paul, have introduced a war powers resolution aimed at blocking unauthorized U.S. military action against Venezuela. Senator Paul, a Republican, criticized the airstrikes as “summary execution,” arguing that the targeted boats posed no danger to the U.S. Vermont Senator Pete Welch echoed support for the resolution, stating, “The Constitution is clear: if the President wants to declare war on terrorists, he needs to ask Congress to authorize it.”
Human rights organizations and international observers have also weighed in. Amnesty International has labeled the U.S. military’s actions “murder—plain and simple,” and U.N. officials have described the strikes as illegal under international law, as reported by McClatchy News. The White House, for its part, asserts that all strikes have targeted designated narcoterrorists and that it has provided Congress with seven classified briefings in the last month to address oversight concerns.
The political context is further complicated by deteriorating U.S.-Venezuelan relations. Washington has long accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of protecting criminal networks like Tren de Aragua and of being complicit in drug trafficking—allegations Maduro vehemently denies. In August, the U.S. doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million. For his part, Maduro contends that the U.S. is seeking to overthrow him and seize Venezuela’s oil wealth, a claim he has repeated as U.S. military and intelligence activity in the region has ramped up.
President Trump has not shied away from raising the stakes. On October 23, he told reporters that his administration would brief Congress on ongoing operations and hinted that ground missions against cartels could follow. “I don’t need a declaration of war,” he said, signaling a willingness to further escalate the campaign. The CIA has reportedly been authorized to undertake clandestine missions inside Venezuela, and Trump has cited both drug trafficking and migration as justifications for possible “land” operations.
Despite the fierce debate, there is bipartisan agreement on the need to combat illicit drug trafficking. Lawmakers from both parties have called for strengthening the Coast Guard and prosecuting suspects through legal channels. However, they remain divided over the wisdom and legality of the current military strategy, with some warning that the U.S. risks being “sleepwalking into a new war of choice in South America,” as Delaware Senator Chris Coons put it.
As the U.S. campaign against drug cartels in the Caribbean intensifies, the world watches closely. The stakes are high—not only for those targeted on the high seas, but for the delicate balance of power, law, and accountability in a region already rife with tension.
