BY NAN News Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, Fri. Oct. 24, 2025: Will Caribbean nationals soon find themselves in the midst of a “war” they did not ask for and have no part in? The United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed today the US strikes in the Caribbean has conducted its tenth maritime strike in recent weeks, pushing the death toll past 40 in a widening campaign against alleged narco-trafficking networks across the Caribbean and Pacific.
Hegseth confirmed Friday that the latest operation, conducted overnight in international waters of the Caribbean Sea, which he said destroyed a vessel allegedly operated by members of the Venezuelan criminal syndicate Tren de Aragua. All six men aboard were killed.
Hegseth described the strike as the first nighttime engagement in the campaign and shared an unclassified video showing the explosion. “The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,” he wrote on social media. “It was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route and carrying narcotics.”
The U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) seen here at the Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas on September 11, 2025, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, will be in Trinidad this weekend. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images)
Escalating Campaign
The Trump administration has launched a series of precision strikes since early September, targeting what it claims are drug-running vessels linked to Venezuelan and Colombian gangs. While initial operations were confined to the Caribbean, the campaign has since extended to the Eastern Pacific, signaling a more aggressive maritime posture.
Two men – one Ecuadorian and one Colombian – survived a strike last week on a suspected submersible craft. The Ecuadorian was released after prosecutors found no criminal evidence, while the Colombian was hospitalized and faces prosecution, according to authorities.
The Pentagon has justified the operations as part of a “non-international armed conflict” against drug cartels, arguing that narcotics smuggling constitutes an “armed attack” due to its role in fueling U.S. overdose deaths.
Criticism Over Legality
The strategy has drawn bipartisan skepticism in Washington. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, said the administration failed to clearly articulate “the legal rationale or constitutional authority” for lethal strikes in international waters. “Most of the Caribbean routes move cocaine to Europe, not the U.S.,” he noted.
Regional governments have voiced similar concerns. Members of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, with the exception of Trinidad and Tobago reaffirmed the principle of maintaining the Caribbean Region as a Zone of Peace and the importance of dialogue and engagement towards the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflict on October 18th. Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned that Washington’s approach is misguided. “Killing the workers of the business is easy,” he told CBS News. “If you want efficiency, you have to capture the bosses.”
Trump dismissed Petro’s remarks, calling him an “illegal drug leader” with a “fresh mouth toward America,” and vowed that U.S. forces would “close up these killing fields” if Colombia did not.
Bodies Wash Ashore in Trinidad
In Trinidad and Tobago, fears are growing that U.S. maritime actions are spilling into local waters. Residents on the island’s northeastern coast recently discovered two burned and mutilated bodies that washed ashore days after the first U.S. strike in September.
Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro said the remains showed “injuries consistent with an explosion.” No one has claimed the bodies, and no foreign government has requested repatriation. Forensic officials in Port of Spain say the corpses remain unidentified.
The gruesome discoveries have deepened divisions within the twin-island republic. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has defended the U.S. campaign as a legitimate counter-narcotics measure, while Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez accused Trinidad’s government of “complicity in extrajudicial killings of humble Venezuelan citizens.”
USS Gravely To Dock in Trinidad
Against that backdrop, Trinidad & Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) will dock in Port of Spain from October 26–30. Container operations at several berths will be suspended to accommodate the visit.
The warship, carrying 300 sailors, will host joint training exercises with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. Officials said the visit aims to “strengthen interoperability, tactical proficiency, and long-term defence cooperation.”
Still, regional analysts say the timing underscores Washington’s expanding military footprint.
Growing Regional Unease
Trump, speaking to reporters Thursday, said maritime drug flows have dropped by “more than 95 percent” since the strikes began and hinted that land-based operations may be next. “We’re going to kill people bringing drugs into our country,” he said. “They’re going to be dead.”
But for island nations caught between cooperation and concern, the rhetoric has revived uneasy memories of earlier U.S. interventions.
With over 40 deaths now tied to American strikes and bodies washing ashore across the Caribbean, leaders are grappling with a stark question: how far will Washington go – and at what cost to the region’s fragile stability and its zone of peace?
