President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. military has carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month.
In a post on social media, Trump announced that a strike had resulted in the death of three individuals and targeted a vessel linked to a “Designated Terrorist Organisation involved in narcotrafficking within the USSOUTHCOM region.”
He did not provide more precise details about the location of the strike.
The Trump administration has yet to clarify how military forces evaluated the boat’s cargo and identified the passengers’ alleged connections to gangs prior to launching the attacks.
National security officials informed Congress members that the first vessel was engaged with multiple shots after it appeared to alter its course towards the shore.
These strikes coincide with an increased presence of US maritime forces in the Caribbean, indicating a significant change in the US’s approach to tackling drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
In Venezuela, there is speculation that these strikes might be part of an effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, a theory supported by comments from the Venezuelan leader.
Maduro asserted following the initial strike that a US-released video by Trump was artificially generated and claimed that a boat of such size was incapable of navigating the open seas.
But earlier this week Maduro lashed out at the US, accusing the Trump administration of using drug trafficking accusations as an excuse for a military operation whose intentions are “to intimidate and seek regime change” in the South American country.
