WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that he had commanded an attack on a small vessel suspected of transporting illegal drugs near Venezuela, marking an extension of what the Trump administration has termed an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Hegseth, in his statement, declared that “our intelligence conclusively verified that this boat was involved in drug trafficking, the individuals onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were navigating a well-known drug transit path.”
This marks the fourth fatal strike in the Caribbean, coming after President Donald Trump informed lawmakers of his stance treating drug traffickers as illegal combatants requiring military intervention. This presidential position allows for increased actions in Latin America and has sparked questions regarding the extent to which the administration might act without Congressional approval.
Trump claimed on social media that the boat was “carrying enough drugs to potentially kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE” and suggested it was “entering American Territory” while near the Venezuelan coast.
According to Hegseth’s statement, the strike conducted on Friday morning resulted in four fatalities, although he did not disclose any specifics about the identities or affiliations of those onboard. The Trump administration reports that 21 individuals have died across these four strikes.
In a post related to the initial strike, Trump alleged the ship was transporting members of the Tren de Aragua cartel. However, details about the targeted organizations in the recent and past strikes, including Friday’s, have not been disclosed.
Trump has designated several Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, but Pentagon officials could not provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict.
The video of the strike posted online showed a small boat moving in open water when it suddenly explodes, with water splashing all around it. As the smoke from the explosion clears, the boat is visible, consumed with flames, floating motionless on the water.
Last month, the U.S. military carried out three other deadly strikes against boats in the Caribbean that the administration accused of ferrying drugs.
With this strike, at least three of these operations have now been carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.
Those strikes followed a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean unlike any seen in recent times.
The Navy’s presence in the region — eight warships with over 5,000 sailors and Marines — has been pretty stable for weeks, according to two defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.
Officials in the Pentagon, when asked for more details about the strike, referred The Associated Press back to Hegseth’s post on social media.
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