The United States military has apprehended two individuals following their rescue from a vessel targeted by a drone strike in the Caribbean. This operation, which took place on Thursday, involved an alleged drug-smuggling boat, as confirmed by a Navy official speaking to Fox News.

Two U.S. officials, speaking to The Associated Press, noted that this marks the sixth strike of its kind under the Trump administration, which has been actively pursuing drug cartels by targeting their smuggling vessels.

The boat in question was a submersible, a type commonly used within the drug trade, designed to travel just below the water’s surface. The two survivors, now in custody, are currently aboard an American warship, though their future destination remains undisclosed.

President Donald Trump has made Venezuelan drug boats a focus of military attention, employing strikes against these suspected smuggling operations. The recent capture underscores the ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking in the region.

President Donald Trump has targeted Venezuelan drug boats with military strikes. The U.S. has taken two survivors from a Thursday strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat.  (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social/AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump later confirmed the attack.

“We attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” Trump said Friday while hosting the Ukrainian president at the White House.

Secretary of State Rubio did not dispute that there were survivors, but he repeatedly said details would be forthcoming.

Thursday’s incident marks the first known case of reported survivors since U.S. forces began their campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug boats.

It was not immediately clear what would be done with the individuals. Fox News Digital has reached out to the State and War departments for comment.

The Thursday strike brings the death toll from the Trump administration’s military campaign against vessels in the region to at least 28. The operations began last month and are part of Trump’s broader effort to dismantle transnational cartels by force.

The U.S. has been escalating strikes on drug boats near Venezuelan waters.  (@realDonald Trump/Truth Social; Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

On Friday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force within U.S. Southern Command.

The task force aims to “crush the cartels, stop the poison and keep America safe,” Hegseth wrote last week on X, formerly Twitter. “The message is clear: If you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold.”

On Tuesday, Trump highlighted a separate strike that killed six suspected smugglers aboard a vessel off the coast of Venezuela.

“Venezuela is a big purveyor of drugs,” Trump told reporters later that day in the Oval Office, accusing the country of sending its “criminals” into the United States.