U.S. Strike In Caribbean Kills 11 On Drug Vessel From Venezuela
Operation Targets ‘Narco-Terrorist’ Group Tren de Aragua Amid Tensions with Maduro Government
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. has conducted a lethal strike in the southern Caribbean, sinking a drug-carrying vessel that had departed from Venezuela. The operation, which killed 11 people, was a direct hit against the Tren de Aragua gang, which the U.S. has designated a “narco-terrorist organization.”
In a Truth Social post, President Trump declared that the strike occurred in international waters and was intended as a warning to those who would traffic illegal narcotics into the United States. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike,” the president said. “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had earlier described the operation on X, is scheduled to travel to Mexico and Ecuador for talks on drug cartels and security. The strike comes as the U.S. has ramped up its maritime presence in the waters off Venezuela, a move the administration says is necessary to combat drug trafficking threats from Latin American cartels.
The increased U.S. military presence has heightened tensions with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro’s government has deployed troops to its coast and border with Colombia and has called on Venezuelans to join a civilian militia.
On Monday, Maduro warned that he would “constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if U.S. forces attacked his country.
Maduro has long maintained that the U.S. is using a false drug-trafficking narrative as a pretext for regime change. He and other Venezuelan officials have cited a United Nations report to argue that Venezuela plays a marginal role in the international drug trade, with traffickers attempting to move only a small percentage of Colombian cocaine through the country. The latest U.N. World Drug Report highlights that countries like Ecuador have experienced a surge in lethal violence linked to drug trafficking.
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