Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed reports claiming he ordered military forces to kill all passengers aboard a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September, Baltimore Chronicle with reference to The Washington Post.
The strike on September 2 reportedly left two survivors clinging to the vessel. According to The Post, Admiral Mitch Bradley, head of Special Operations Command, then authorized a second strike to follow Hegseth’s orders and prevent survivors from contacting other traffickers to recover themselves or the cargo.
In a statement posted on X on Friday, Hegseth said the operations were intended as “lethal, kinetic strikes.” He emphasized that current US military actions in the Caribbean comply with both US and international law, adhere to the law of armed conflict, and are approved by military and civilian legal advisors throughout the chain of command.
It remains unclear why survivors from the initial strike were not rescued, as occurred in a later operation where two survivors were airlifted to a Navy ship and eventually repatriated to Ecuador and Colombia. Some legal experts note that these survivors could have faced federal prosecution for narcotics smuggling. SOCOM declined to comment on the allegations.
ABC News confirmed through a source familiar with the September 2 incident that initial survivors were killed in subsequent strikes. However, the outlet has not independently verified the specifics of orders from Hegseth or Bradley.
Critics and legal experts have questioned the legality of the strikes, noting that under the Geneva Conventions, wounded or sick combatants are to be collected and cared for by either side. Republican Senator Roger Wicker and Democratic Senator Jack Reed have called for “vigorous oversight” to establish the facts surrounding the alleged killings.
There have been over 20 US airstrikes against vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in more than 80 fatalities. Trump and top advisers argue the operations are legal, citing intelligence that the boats were transporting illegal narcotics and noting that drug cartels were designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Many legal experts dispute this approach, stating law enforcement—not military action—should handle narcotics seizures and arrests.
Earlier we wrote that Trump Administration Pauses Asylum Decisions and Afghan Visas After National Guard Shooting.
