Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a U.S. strike in international waters of the Caribbean killed three men on a suspected trafficking vessel, the 17th announced operation since September with at least 69 deaths reported.
- The White House has told Congress it treats drug traffickers as unlawful combatants under Title 10, and officials said the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel approved maritime strikes tied to two dozen groups but not land strikes.
- Senators voted 51–49 to reject a bipartisan measure requiring approval for military action against Venezuela, as lawmakers in both parties pressed for clearer legal justifications and greater oversight.
- An Associated Press review of victims identified several low-level laborers and couriers, with boats moving Colombian cocaine to Trinidad and other islands or to Europe, while the Pentagon maintains the targets were narco‑terrorists.
- A growing U.S. naval presence is concentrating in the region ahead of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, with additional amphibious and destroyer forces already operating under U.S. Southern Command.