Trump says US sank another Venezuelan drug boat, killing three aboard

Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald on Sep 15, 2025

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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.

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