Month: October 2025

The U.S. carried out two more strikes on alleged drug vessels this week—this time on the Pacific side of Latin America—killing five people and marking a major expansion of the Trump administration’s anti-narcotics campaign. No U.S. personnel were injured in either operation, officials confirmed.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed that the military conducted the lethal strikes on two consecutive days against the boats in the eastern Pacific — the eighth and ninth known strikes by the US military on alleged drug-smuggling vessels since the start of September — with all seven previous strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean Sea. The first strike occurred Tuesday in international waters off Colombia, killing two people. A second, in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, left three more dead. At least 37 people in total have been killed in the nine strikes.

Hegseth said on X Wednesday, noting a Tuesday strike in the Pacific had killed both people on board, that “Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere.”  Hegseth said the boat in that strike was “being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization(s) and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific. … Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”

Hegseth later said the US conducted a lethal strike on a second suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific, killing all three people on board:  “Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO),” Hegseth wrote on X.

At a White House briefing on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the administration is preparing to take the fight beyond the seas: “They had one today in the Pacific, and the way I look at it — every time I look — because it is violent and it is very — it’s amazing, the weaponry, you know they have these boats that go 45 to 50 miles an hour in the water, and when you look at the accuracy and the power — look, we have the greatest military in the world.” Trump added that the naval operations have disrupted maritime smuggling routes and forced traffickers to move shipments inland.

Trump also indicated that future U.S. action could include strikes on land targets: “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land. They haven’t experienced that yet, but now we are totally prepared to do that,” while emphasizing that while he would “probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we are doing,” he believes such approval is not legally required.

While the administration has labeled the targeted cartels as “terrorist organizations,” that classification has drawn backlash from critics who are pressing for more transparency—and a clearer legal justification—before the campaign moves to land-based targets.

Editorial credit: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com

Federal authorities announced Thursday that more than 30 people across 11 states — including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones — have been charged in a pair of nationwide investigations into illegal sports gambling poker rigging schemes connected to organized crime. Federal prosecutors emphasized that the ongoing investigation does not currently involve college basketball.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced at a news conference that the federal takedown includes charges including wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling, stating that “the fraud is mind-boggling.”  Patel described the arrests as “extraordinary,” noting that theinvestigation not only exposed “fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA,” but also dealt a major blow to “La Casa Nostra,” referencing the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Luchei crime families.

The large-scale operation, coordinated by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, uncovered two interconnected criminal enterprises: one involving fraudulent sports bets placed by current and former NBA players, and another centered on high-stakes poker games allegedly rigged with advanced cheating technology and tied to multiple Mafia families.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the profits from the alleged poker scheme ran up to $7 million “and counting,” with the investigation taking place across two years. Authorities said some NBA players involved in the betting ring allegedly faked injuries to influence game outcomes, while others laundered their proceeds through shell companies, cash transactions, and cryptocurrency transfers. The sweeping federal effort, dubbed “Operation Nothing But Net,” led to arrests across multiple states and included charges such as wire fraud, money laundering, illegal gambling, robbery, and extortion.  Commissioner Tisch confirmed that organized crime associates were among those detained.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said the suspects allegedly used “very sophisticated cheating technologies” in the underground poker operation, including altered self-shuffling machines capable of reading cards and predicting the strongest hands at the table. That information was allegedly transmitted to an off-site operator, who then relayed it to a designated player — known as the “quarterback” — to secretly signal the winning strategy to others in on the scheme. Nocella added that the suspects “used high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from secretly rigged underground poker games.” Prosecutors said the poker games were backed by the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese families and that some defendants in the second case had direct ties to these organized crime groups.

Billups was taken into custody in Portland and charged in connection with the poker and organized crime case; while Rozier was arrested in Orlando and faces charges related to the alleged sports betting conspiracy.

Jones, a former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach, was implicated in both investigations after he allegedly provided inside information about NBA games to co-defendants who used it to place sports bets. According to Nocella, six defendants are accused of their involvement in the sports betting case, while there are 31 defendants allegedly involved in the rigged poker games. Jones is one of three people allegedly involved in both cases, Nocella said.

Rozier, a 10-year NBA veteran originally drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2015, joined the Miami Heat in 2024 after a stint with the Charlotte Hornets. His attorney, Jim Trusty, criticized how the arrest was handled, saying, “They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel.  It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo-op.” He accused prosecutors of “taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing,” adding that “Terry was cleared by the NBA” and is “not afraid of a fight.”

Billups, 49, a five-time NBA All-Star and the 2004 Finals MVP known as “Mr. Big Shot,” has been the Trail Blazers’ head coach since 2021 after a celebrated 17-year playing career that culminated in his Hall of Fame induction in 2024. Neither Billups nor his representatives have commented on the charges.

The NBA later released the following statement: “We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

Editorial credit: Joey Sussman / Shutterstock.com