NEW YORK, December 4. /TASS/. US military forces killed survivors of a boat strike in the southern Caribbean on September 2 after they allegedly tried to contact a drug cartel for assistance, The New York Times (NYT) newspaper reported, citing its sources.

The newspaper notes that Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth approved operational plans prior to the anti-cartel mission in the Caribbean, outlining procedures if survivors remained after the initial strike. The plan assumed US forces would attempt to rescue survivors if they were deemed helpless and non-hostile. However, any attempt by survivors to contact drug cartels would be considered hostile, resulting in their elimination.

Sources for the NYT stated that two people survived the September 2 strike on the boat, but used a radio to call for help. In response, Admiral Frank Bradley, who commanded the operation, ordered a second strike, which led to the deaths of the survivors.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would release all available materials regarding the actions of American military forces, who, multiple media outlets have reported, deliberately killed survivors of a boat strike in the Caribbean in September. Earlier, The Washington Post newspaper reported that in early September, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth ordered "no survivors" during a US strike on a boat in the southern Caribbean. US authorities asserted the boat was transporting drugs from Venezuela. US military forces reportedly carried out two strikes on September 2: the first to destroy the boat carrying 11 individuals allegedly linked to the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua, and the second to kill two survivors clinging to the boat’s wreckage in the water.

The CNN television network estimates that over the past months, US forces have destroyed more than 20 boats off the coast of Latin America under the pretext of combating drug smuggling, resulting in over 80 casualties. Following one such strike, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated that an American operation killed a fisherman from his country, not a drug trafficker.

Washington has repeatedly leveled unsubstantiated accusations against Caracas, claiming insufficient efforts to combat drug smuggling. The New York Times newspaper also reported that Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations within the Bolivarian Republic. US media outlets have frequently indicated that the United States may soon begin conducting strikes against drug cartel facilities in Venezuela.