{"id":18716,"date":"2025-10-17T19:02:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=18716"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:02:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:02:19","slug":"for-the-first-time-crew-survives-u-s-strike-on-suspected-drug-boat-in-the-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=18716","title":{"rendered":"For The First Time, Crew Survives U.S Strike On Suspected Drug Boat In The Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    For The First Time, Crew Survives U.S Strike On Suspected Drug Boat In The Caribbean<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-300x157.jpg?resize=300%2C157&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"For The First Time, Crew Survives U.S Strike On Suspected Drug Boat In The Caribbean\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;margin-right:10px;width:150px; height:150px;float:left;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-150x79.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1877167\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1877167\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1877167\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike.jpg?resize=1200%2C628\" alt=\"boat strike\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-strike-150x79.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1877167\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screengrab from X video posted by Pete Hegseth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The U.S. military carried out another strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean on Thursday, with reports from a U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, indicating for the first time that some crew members survived.<\/p>\n<p>The details of the incident remain limited, and it is unclear whether the U.S. military provided aid to the survivors or if they are now in U.S. custody.<\/p>\n<p>Prior strikes against suspected drug boats off Venezuela have killed at least 27 people, with no prior instances of survivors reported. These operations have raised concerns among legal experts and some Democratic lawmakers about compliance with international laws of war.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration maintains that its actions are justified as part of an ongoing fight against narcoterrorist groups operating from Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p>The strike comes as the U.S. has increased its military presence in the Caribbean, deploying guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine, and about 6,500 troops. This buildup has raised tensions with the Venezuelan government.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"zxx\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AYyPZuUsm9\">https:\/\/t.co\/AYyPZuUsm9<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1gY3vBnvqa\">pic.twitter.com\/1gY3vBnvqa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/1978155508960813249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Adding to regional uncertainty, President Donald Trump disclosed on Wednesday that he had authorised the Central Intelligence Agency to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela has formally protested U.S. actions. In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, the country\u2019s ambassador, Samuel Moncada, urged the UN to declare the strikes off its coast illegal and to issue a statement affirming Venezuela\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon recently announced that counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean would now be led by a new task force under the II Marine Expeditionary Force, based in North Carolina, rather than the Miami-based Southern Command, which typically oversees U.S. military activity in Latin America. Military analysts found this decision surprising given the high-profile nature of the operations.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed that Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of the Southern Command, will step down at the end of the year, two years earlier than expected.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, described Holsey\u2019s early resignation as \u201ctroubling,\u201d citing concerns over potential U.S.-Venezuelan confrontation and the administration\u2019s approach to military planning.<\/p>\n<p>Reference: Reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    MI News Network<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marineinsight.com\/shipping-news\/for-the-first-time-crew-survives-u-s-strike-on-suspected-drug-boat-in-the-caribbean\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=for-the-first-time-crew-survives-u-s-strike-on-suspected-drug-boat-in-the-caribbean\">Go to marine insight<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For The First Time, Crew Survives U.S Strike On Suspected Drug Boat In The Caribbean Screengrab from X video posted by Pete Hegseth The U.S. military carried out another strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean on Thursday, with reports from a U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, indicating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,196],"tags":[197],"class_list":["post-18716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marine-insight","category-shipping-news","tag-marine-insight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18716\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}