Trump says U.S. sank another Venezuelan drug boat, killing three aboard.
By Antonio María Delgado/Miami Herald
Updated September 15, 2025 6:43 PM
President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. forces carried out a second strike on Monday against what he called “positively identified, extraordinarily violent” drug trafficking groups operating from Venezuela, saying the operation killed three “narcoterrorists” who were transporting narcotics in international waters.
“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the president wrote Monday afternoon on his Truth Social account.
He said the strike targeted suspects “in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.”
According to the president’s message, which emphasized his hardline approach to drug trafficking, the strike “resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action” while “no U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike.”
He added a warning to traffickers: “BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!”
The administration has framed the operation as a matter of national security and foreign policy. “These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests,” Trump wrote, asserting that illicit narcotics have wrought “DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER.”
The White House did not immediately provide on-the-record briefings with additional operational details, such as the specific location of the strike, the U.S. unit involved, or whether any local governments or international organizations were notified in advance. The Department of Defense and U.S. Southern Command had not posted an update early Wednesday evening.
The president’s statement raised immediate legal and diplomatic questions, particularly because the strike reportedly occurred in international waters and targeted civilians even though the administration described those aboard as Venezuelan narcoterrorists.
International law and U.S. statutes set limits on the use of force outside declared war zones and killing civilians is considered to be a war crime unless they pose an immediate lethal threat and there is no other way of stopping them.
Monday’s announcement follows a similar statement issued by the president on Sept. 2, when he revealed that he had ordered an attack against a boat coming out of Venezuela carrying “a lot of drugs”. Eleven people aboard were killed.
Tensions between Washington and Caracas have flared in recent weeks following Trump’s decision to deploy a large U.S. force of ships and troops to combat drug cartels operating in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has increasingly framed its anti-narcotics campaign as a top priority of national defense policy.
The U.S. Justice Department has indicted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and several senior officials on drug conspiracy charges, offering a $50 million reward for Maduro’s capture. American prosecutors accuse them of running the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” a trafficking network allegedly embedded in the Venezuelan military.
The U.S. deployment includes eight warships—some with amphibious assault capability—F-35 fighter jets and 4,500 personnel. The scale and sophistication of the operation has raised eyebrows across the region, with experts likening it to “bringing a howitzer to a knife fight.” It marks the largest U.S. military show of force in the Caribbean in decades.
The naval buildup has further strained already tense relations between the two countries. A week after Washington announced that U.S. forces had intercepted and destroyed a drug-laden speedboat originating from Venezuela, the Pentagon reported that Venezuelan fighter jets flew alarmingly close to a U.S. Navy destroyer operating in international waters.
Soon after, Trump issued a stark warning: Venezuelan aircraft that threaten U.S. forces will be shot down.
Maduro has rejected allegations that his government is involved in drug trafficking, dismissing them as a cover for regime change. Calling the charges “fabricated,” he placed Venezuela’s military on alert and vowed to mobilize civilian militias to defend the country’s sovereignty.
On Sunday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López escalated the rhetoric, warning neighboring Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago that Caracas would retaliate if any attack against Venezuela originated from their territories.
“I tell these governments… that if we are attacked from their territory, they will also receive a response, and that is in legitimate defense,” Padrino declared in a video shared on his Telegram channel.
He also accused Washington of sharply intensifying aerial surveillance of Venezuela, citing a surge in spy flights last month. “Now they have moved from a daytime pattern to operating at night and at dawn, and in August they tripled the intelligence and reconnaissance operations against Venezuela,” he said.
Updated September 15, 2025 6:43 PM
President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. forces carried out a second strike on Monday against what he called “positively identified, extraordinarily violent” drug trafficking groups operating from Venezuela, saying the operation killed three “narcoterrorists” who were transporting narcotics in international waters.
“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the president wrote Monday afternoon on his Truth Social account.
He said the strike targeted suspects “in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.”
According to the president’s message, which emphasized his hardline approach to drug trafficking, the strike “resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action” while “no U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike.”
He added a warning to traffickers: “BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!”
The administration has framed the operation as a matter of national security and foreign policy. “These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests,” Trump wrote, asserting that illicit narcotics have wrought “DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER.”
The White House did not immediately provide on-the-record briefings with additional operational details, such as the specific location of the strike, the U.S. unit involved, or whether any local governments or international organizations were notified in advance. The Department of Defense and U.S. Southern Command had not posted an update early Wednesday evening.
The president’s statement raised immediate legal and diplomatic questions, particularly because the strike reportedly occurred in international waters and targeted civilians even though the administration described those aboard as Venezuelan narcoterrorists.
International law and U.S. statutes set limits on the use of force outside declared war zones and killing civilians is considered to be a war crime unless they pose an immediate lethal threat and there is no other way of stopping them.
Monday’s announcement follows a similar statement issued by the president on Sept. 2, when he revealed that he had ordered an attack against a boat coming out of Venezuela carrying “a lot of drugs”. Eleven people aboard were killed.
Tensions between Washington and Caracas have flared in recent weeks following Trump’s decision to deploy a large U.S. force of ships and troops to combat drug cartels operating in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has increasingly framed its anti-narcotics campaign as a top priority of national defense policy.
The U.S. Justice Department has indicted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and several senior officials on drug conspiracy charges, offering a $50 million reward for Maduro’s capture. American prosecutors accuse them of running the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” a trafficking network allegedly embedded in the Venezuelan military.
The U.S. deployment includes eight warships—some with amphibious assault capability—F-35 fighter jets and 4,500 personnel. The scale and sophistication of the operation has raised eyebrows across the region, with experts likening it to “bringing a howitzer to a knife fight.” It marks the largest U.S. military show of force in the Caribbean in decades.
The naval buildup has further strained already tense relations between the two countries. A week after Washington announced that U.S. forces had intercepted and destroyed a drug-laden speedboat originating from Venezuela, the Pentagon reported that Venezuelan fighter jets flew alarmingly close to a U.S. Navy destroyer operating in international waters.
Soon after, Trump issued a stark warning: Venezuelan aircraft that threaten U.S. forces will be shot down.
Maduro has rejected allegations that his government is involved in drug trafficking, dismissing them as a cover for regime change. Calling the charges “fabricated,” he placed Venezuela’s military on alert and vowed to mobilize civilian militias to defend the country’s sovereignty.
On Sunday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López escalated the rhetoric, warning neighboring Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago that Caracas would retaliate if any attack against Venezuela originated from their territories.
“I tell these governments… that if we are attacked from their territory, they will also receive a response, and that is in legitimate defense,” Padrino declared in a video shared on his Telegram channel.
He also accused Washington of sharply intensifying aerial surveillance of Venezuela, citing a surge in spy flights last month. “Now they have moved from a daytime pattern to operating at night and at dawn, and in August they tripled the intelligence and reconnaissance operations against Venezuela,” he said.
