Trump Announces New Strike On Venezuela Ship
- 16.09.2025, 9:57
Operations can begin on land as well.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military struck a Venezuelan drug cartel boat bound for the United States on Sept. 15. It was the second such strike on a suspected drug ship in recent weeks, Reuters wrote.
Trump said three people were killed in the attack, adding that the strike took place in international waters.
"This morning, on my orders, the United States Armed Forces conducted a SECOND kinetic strike against credibly identified, extremely violent drug cartels and narco-terrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," Trump said in a message on Truth Social.
"These extremely violent drug cartels are a DANGER to U.S. national security, foreign policy and vital U.S. interests," Trump said.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) covers 31 countries in South and Central America as well as the Caribbean.
The post also included a nearly 30-second video labeled "Unclassified" that shows what appears to be a ship on the water exploding and then catching fire.
Later, Trump said the U.S. had evidence of drug transportation on the ship - "just look at the cargo that was scattered all over the ocean: big bags of cocaine and fentanyl."
Venezuela's communications ministry has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The latest strike comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean. On Sept. 13, five U.S. F-35 fighter jets landed in Puerto Rico after the Trump administration ordered 10 aircraft to join the build-up.
The region is also home to at least seven U.S. warships and one nuclear-powered submarine.
Operations could be conducted on land as well
While speaking to reporters on Sept. 15, Trump suggested that operations against suspected drug smugglers could be conducted on land as well.
"When they come overland, we'll stop them just like we stopped the ships," Trump said. - But maybe if we talk about it a little bit, it won't happen."
Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
B> told sailors and Marines on a warship off Puerto Rico that they had been sent to the Caribbean Sea not for training but to the "front lines" of a crucial counter-narcotics mission.
September 15, Hegseth announced the U.S. military's massive mission to combat drug traffickers in a post on social media X:
"We will track them, kill them and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere - anytime and anywhere we choose."