Trump says U.S. strikes third drug- trafficking vessel in international waters; three killed
Trump, via Truth Social, says intelligence confirmed narcotics trafficking and that no U.S. forces were harmed; the action comes as U.S. crackdowns expand in the SOUTHCOM region.
President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. forces conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a designated terrorist organization conducting narcotrafficking in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, in international waters, killing three male narco-terrorists aboard.
Trump said on Truth Social that intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage en route to poison Americans, and that no U.S. forces were harmed.
The post marks the third such action targeting alleged drug-trafficking vessels in recent weeks, as Washington escalates operations against drug cartels in the SOUTHCOM region. Two earlier strikes have killed a total of 14 people on boats alleged to be linked to Venezuelan drug cartels.
Earlier this month, a U.S. strike destroyed a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean, killing nearly a dozen suspected Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists, according to U.S. officials cited in reporting about the campaign.
In February, the Trump administration designated several drug cartel groups, including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations, expanding the legal framework for U.S. actions against them.
Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's president, condemned the strikes and said his government would defend itself against what it called U.S. aggression. The strikes have focused on vessels operating in the U.S. Southern Command area, which covers most of South America and the Caribbean.
The latest strike prompted legal and international-law questions, with legal experts previously telling the BBC that the fatal strike on the first vessel in international waters may have violated international human rights and maritime law.
U.S. officials did not offer public commentary beyond the posts from Trump describing the operation. The SouthCommand region continues to be a flashpoint in the broader effort to disrupt narcotrafficking networks moving illicit drugs toward North America.