A U.S. strike against an alleged drug vessel killed six suspected "narco-terrorists" in the Caribbean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, the latest operation in President Donald Trump's counter-drug campaign in the region.

In a post on X, Hegseth said this was the first strike carried out at night as part of the campaign, which began in September. The strike took place overnight and the vessel was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, he added.

Hegseth wrote: "Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.