In previous strikes, the U.S. has claimed that there have been no survivors.
October 16, 2025, 8:05 PM
The U.S. military conducted an airstrike Thursday targeting an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean, according to a U.S. official.
There are survivors from the strike, according to the official.
In previous, similar strikes, the U.S. has claimed that there have been no survivors.
Reuters was first to report the details of the latest strike and reported survivors.
Thursday’s strike would be at least the sixth such strike targeting what the Trump administration has labeled as a drug-smuggling craft operated by narcoterrorists.
The administration has not made public any evidence to support those assertions.
Earlier Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt continued to maintain that the administration is acting within its authority by carrying out strikes on alleged drug boats coming off of Venezuela.
Trump has been «very transparent about these strikes,» Leavitt told reporters, citing the release of declassified video.
«There should be no surprise for this. The president campaigned on using every lever of power to go after the drug cartels who have been trafficking illicit poison into our country for far too long,» she said.
As a result of the strikes, she said there have been «less boats with lots of drugs coming into the shores» of the U.S.
«I think the American people can expect them to continue,» she added.
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Venezuela’s top ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, once again denounced the U.S. military strikes in Caribbean waters and urged the Trump administration to «stop this madness» during a press briefing with reporters at the U.N. on Thursday.
Moncada accused the U.S. government of carrying out extrajudicial executions of civilians in the Caribbean Sea. Trump said a strike on Tuesday killed six «narcoterrorists,» though Moncada said the family of two of those killed said the men were fishermen, not drug traffickers, from Trinidad and Tobago.
Moncada called on the U.N. Security Council to investigate the U.S. strikes and to issue a statement «reaffirming the principle of unrestricted respect for the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of states including Venezuela.»
ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
