The United States military announced it conducted another operation targeting a vessel suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in the deaths of two individuals on Monday.
Since early September, the Trump administration has continued its initiative to destroy suspected drug-trafficking boats in Latin American waters. This campaign, which has included operations in the eastern Pacific Ocean, has resulted in at least 188 fatalities so far.
Despite ongoing conflicts like the Iran war, this series of military strikes has intensified recently, underscoring the administration’s unyielding stance against what it terms “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere.
Maduro was subsequently brought to New York to confront drug trafficking charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The attacks began as the US built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
In the latest attack Monday, US Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.
It posted a video on X showing a boat moving along the water before a massive explosion engulfs the vessel in flames.
President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.
