The United States military has reportedly carried out a strike on another alleged drug smuggling vessel, as the admiral overseeing the Trump administration’s controversial campaign in the Caribbean announced his shock departure.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the strike on Thursday. The official said that, in what appeared to be a first, there were also survivors among the crew.
The official did not offer additional details about the incident, which has not been previously reported. The Pentagon and US President Donald Trump are yet to publicly confirm the attack.
Prior to this latest strike, the US had carried out five attacks on alleged drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean since early September, killing at least 27 people.
The strikes have drawn the condemnation of legal experts, rights groups and Democratic lawmakers, who criticise their extrajudicial nature and question whether they adhere to US and international law.
The Trump administration argues the strikes are legitimate as the US is already engaged in a war with “narco-terrorist” groups from Venezuela, and drug traffickers are unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.
Venezuela has repeatedly condemned the strikes, most recently on Thursday when Caracas’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, called on the UN Security Council to investigate what he called the “series of assassinations”.
In his speech, Moncada described an attack on a small boat in the Caribbean on Tuesday – the most recent to be confirmed by President Trump – as a “new set of extrajudicial executions”.
Six people were killed in that attack, including reportedly two fishermen from Trinidad and Tobago, whom Moncada referenced in his speech.
“There is a killer prowling the Caribbean,” Moncada said, holding up local newspaper The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, which featured a story detailing the lives of the two men.
Only a couple of miles separate Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, with the ongoing military strikes spooking fishermen in the Caribbean island dual-nation.
“People from different countries … are suffering the effects of these massacres,” he added. “There is no justification at all … They are fabricating a war.”
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is yet to comment. Following Washington’s first strike on a vessel on September 3, she said, “I have no sympathy for traffickers; the US military should kill them all violently”.
The strikes come against the backdrop of an unprecedented US military buildup in the Caribbean, as President Trump escalates a standoff with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Since late August, the US has deployed guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and about 6,500 troops to the region with the stated goal of combating drug trafficking.
Trump has also floated the idea of conducting land strikes against Venezuelan cartels, while he authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside the country on Wednesday.
Caracas has accused Washington of attempting to overthrow Maduro – whom the US accuses of leading a narco-empire and has offered a $50m reward for – to instigate regime change in the nominally socialist South American country.
Speaking in a televised address following Trump’s authorisation of ground operations in Venezuela, Maduro spoke directly to the US public as he declared “no to CIA-orchestrated coups d’etat”.
“No to regime change, which reminds us so much of the endless, failed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the US admiral overseeing the strikes in the Caribbean announced he will retire just a year into his tenure.
Admiral Alvin Holsey, the head of US Southern Command that is responsible for forces operating in Central and South America, did not provide an explanation for his departure, which comes two years ahead of schedule.
“Effective 12 December 2025 I will retire from the US Navy,” Holsey said in a statement posted on Southern Command’s X account.
“It’s been an honor to serve our nation, the American people and support and defend the Constitution for over 37 years,” he added.
In a post on X, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised Holsey’s career and said the admiral “demonstrated unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation”.
“His tenure as Military Deputy Commander and now Commander of United States Southern Command reflects a legacy of operational excellence and strategic vision,” he said.
