US delivers deadly warning after striking another drug-carrying boat in Caribbean - 'We'll track, hunt, kill you'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday, October 24, that the United States conducted its 10th strike on a vessel in the Caribbean suspected of carrying drugs as he also delivered a chilling warning to the drug cartels. At least six persons were killed in the strikes, bringing the death toll of the campaign against drug cartels to at least 46.

In a post to social media, Pete Hegseth said all narco-terrorist smuggling drugs to America would be treated like Al-Qaeda and the US will “track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you,” Pete Hegseth said.

According to the defense secretary, the vessel was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang. Also Read | US-Colombia drug boat dispute: Gustavo Petro sparks controversy with 'get rid of Trump’ comment

The pace of the strikes has quickened in recent days from one every few weeks in September when they first began to three in one week now. A similar strike was conducted a day ago on October 23, this time in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people.

Pete Hegseth had also warned that for anyone trying to snuggle drugs into America, “there will be no refuge or forgiveness.”

For today's strike in the Caribbean, Pete Hegseth said, “Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.”

“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Six male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters—and was the first strike at night. All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”

Washington began carrying out a military campaign targeting alleged drug-trafficking boats in early September, deploying forces including stealth warplanes and Navy ships to the region, but has yet to release evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics.

Donald Trump has so far defended the strikes, saying the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and is invoking the same legal authority used by President George W Bush’s administration during the post-9/11 war on terror.

(With agency inputs)