WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S. military has carried out another lethal strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessel, the second such attack in recent weeks, killing three men and sparking renewed criticism of Washington’s escalating counter-narcotics campaign in the Caribbean.
Trump said the strike occurred in international waters and that no U.S. personnel were injured. Posting on Truth Social, he described the target as “extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists” that threaten U.S. national security.
A 30-second video, marked “unclassified,” accompanied Trump’s post and appeared to show a vessel exploding and burning at sea. Trump claimed authorities recovered evidence of cocaine and fentanyl scattered in the water.
“We have proof — big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office. “This is how we protect our communities.”
Military Buildup and Expanded Mission
The strike comes amid a significant U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, with five F-35 fighter jets recently deployed to Puerto Rico and at least seven warships and a nuclear submarine stationed in the region.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has framed the mission as an offensive campaign against cartel networks.
“We will track them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere — at the times and places of our choosing,” Hegseth wrote on X.
Trump also hinted that similar operations could be carried out on land, warning traffickers that “we’re going to be stopping them the same way we stopped the boats.”
Legal and Political Tensions
This latest strike is expected to reignite debate in Washington, where lawmakers from both parties have questioned the legal basis of such operations, raising concerns over executive overreach and the use of the military for law enforcement.
The administration has cited self-defence under international law as justification, arguing that Venezuelan gangs — including the Tren de Aragua cartel, which was targeted in an earlier strike — pose an immediate threat to the United States.
Caracas Pushback
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused Washington of using drug-trafficking allegations as a pretext for regime change.
“This is about intimidation,” Maduro said in Caracas. “The United States is seeking to destabilize and overthrow our government under the cover of a drug war.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded by reiterating that the U.S. does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, labeling him instead “the head of a cartel masquerading as a government.”
Observers warn the escalation risks further heightening tensions between Washington and Caracas, as well as sparking diplomatic friction with other regional governments wary of unilateral U.S. military action.