Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X that U.S. forces hit a narcotics‑trafficking vessel in international waters, killing three men with no U.S. casualties.
- The operation is the 17th publicly acknowledged strike since September, with at least 69 people reported killed in similar attacks.
- Senators voted 51–49 to reject a resolution requiring approval for strikes against Venezuela as the Pentagon moves additional naval forces, including the Ford carrier strike group, into the region.
- Officials told Congress that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel approved boat strikes tied to 24 cartels but did not authorize land attacks in Venezuela or other countries.
- An Associated Press investigation identified several people killed in earlier strikes as low‑level workers and reported the boats carried cocaine bound for nearby islands and Europe.