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An armed officer guarding drugs at news conference in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Sept. 21, 2025. DMR National Drug Control Directorate via AP
The Dominican Republic said on Sept. 21 it confiscated some of the estimated 2,200 pounds of cocaine allegedly being transported by a speedboat recently destroyed by the U.S. Navy.
The Caribbean nation’s National Directorate for Drug Control said it recovered 377 packages of cocaine.
The Dominican Republic’s navy worked in conjunction with the United States to pinpoint the boat thought to be carrying cocaine, leading to the U.S. strike.
Dominican authorities said the boat was using the Dominican Republic as a bridge to bring drugs to the United States. Officials said the boat was destroyed 80 nautical miles south of Isla Beata, a small island belonging to the Dominican Republic.
“This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean,” the directorate said in a statement.
Three “male narcoterrorists” were killed in the strike, President Donald Trump said on Sept. 19.
In August, the United States deployed air and naval forces to the southern Caribbean to combat drug trafficking.
The first operation was conducted on Sept. 2 and killed 11 people. The White House said it was “conducted against the operations of a designated terrorist organization and was taken in defense of vital U.S. national interests.”
Trump said that the strike killed 11 alleged Tren de Aragua terrorists.
On Sept. 15, Trump announced a second strike, also against a Venezuelan boat.
“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests.”
Three people were killed in the second strike, and another three were killed in a subsequent strike.
An alleged drug cartel vessel burns following a U.S. military strike, the third such strike carried out against a suspected drug boat in recent weeks, in a still from video released on Sept. 19, 2025. President Donald Trump via Truth Social via Reuters
In Congress, Democrats and some Republicans have questioned the reasoning and legality of the strikes.
“I am deeply concerned about the President’s military actions in the Caribbean, which were taken without congressional authorization, without clear legal justification, and without any evidence presented that it was necessary to protect the United States or its forces from an imminent threat,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said during a Sept. 9 floor speech.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was one of the few Republicans to criticize the strike.
“[Vice President JD] Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military.’ Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??” he posted on X on Sept. 6.
During a Sept. 3 appearance on “Fox & Friends,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “We’ve got assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships, because this is a deadly serious mission for us. It won’t stop with just this strike. Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco-terrorist will face the same fate.”
“It’s important for the American people to protect our homeland and protect our hemisphere,” he said.
Jackson Richman is a Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times. In addition to Washington politics, he covers the intersection of politics and sports/sports and culture. He previously was a writer at Mediaite and Washington correspondent at Jewish News Syndicate. His writing has also appeared in The Washington Examiner. He is an alum of George Washington University.
