By: Staff Writer
December 5, 2025
Us Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, is under fire for a US military strike that killed 11 suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers in a double tap strike, the second one eliminating remaining survivors from the first strike.
A firestorm of controversy has greeted a recent Washington Post report which suggested that a deadly attack on a vessel carrying 11 people in the Caribbean was followed with a second assault after the initial strike failed to kill everybody onboard.
Since September, the Trump administration has relentlessly targeted vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific suspected of being used by “narco-terrorists” to export illicit narcotics to the US – killing at least 81 people in more than 20 strikes.
The administration has insisted the strikes are legal under the rules of war, arguing that the US is engaged in armed conflict with traffickers, whom it accuses of being in league with Venezuela’s autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro, to flood the US with illicit narcotics.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strikes but did not give an order to “kill everybody”, as the report said.
“Admiral (Frank) Bradley worked well within his authority and the law” in ordering the additional strike, Leavitt said.
More than 80 people have been killed in a number of similar strikes in the Caribbean Sea since early September. Each announcement from US officials is usually accompanied by grainy video, but no evidence of the alleged drug trafficking, and few details on who or what was on board each vessel.
The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defence by destroying boats carrying illicit drugs to the US.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern over the report of the 2 September incident and have vowed congressional reviews of the strikes.
Leavitt in her comments to reporters did not dispute a Washington Post report that there were survivors after the initial strike. Her explanation came after President Donald Trump a day earlier said he “wouldn’t have wanted that — not a second strike” when asked about the incident.
“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” said Leavitt. “Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”