President Donald Trump shared a 33-second video of a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel,” which he claimed was linked to a Designated Terrorist Organisation (DTO) engaged in narcotrafficking off Venezuela’s coast.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route. The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed. Thank you for your attention to this matter! ! ! ! ! !”, the president posted on his TruthSocial platform.
The United Nations has previously condemned American strikes on small boats suspected of drug trafficking as extrajudicial killings.
The US defends these operations as targeting “narco-terrorist” members of Tren de Aragua, which has been classified as a foreign terrorist organisation.
This represents the fifth strike American military forces have launched against suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea over recent months, reports the Express US.
The previous four operations resulted in 21 deaths altogether, according to administration officials.
Trump has branded Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a drug lord and described him as an illegitimate leader.
The administration has abandoned diplomatic engagement with Venezuela in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the President notified Congress that the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels, which have been labelled as terrorist groups by the administration.
However, Democrats have voiced their objections to the strikes, which commenced in early September. Last week, the Senate voted on a war powers resolution that would have prohibited the administration from conducting the strikes unless they were specifically authorised by Congress, but the resolution did not pass.
According to US officials, the US strikes have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people so far.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration has yet to provide concrete evidence to lawmakers proving that the alleged drug-smuggling boats targeted by the U.S. military in a series of fatal strikes were indeed carrying narcotics. This information was shared by two U.S. officials familiar with the matter, who spoke under the condition of anonymity.
The officials, who were not authorised to publicly comment on the matter and spoke anonymously, stated that the administration has only referred to unclassified video clips of the strikes posted on social media by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and has yet to produce “hard evidence” that the vessels were transporting drugs.
Lawmakers have voiced their frustration over the administration’s lack of detail regarding its decision to declare an armed conflict with cartels, and which criminal organisations it deems as “unlawful combatants.”
A select group of top administration officials – including Rubio, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Trump aide Stephen Miller – has spearheaded the push to execute the fatal strikes, according to officials and the AP.
A White House official insinuated that lawmakers were being disingenuous with their criticism, stating that the Trump administration has been “much more forthcoming” with the legal rationale than Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration was when it conducted strikes targeting militants in the Middle East.
The official, who requested anonymity due to not being authorised to comment publicly, stated that Pentagon officials have conducted six separate classified briefings to Congress on the operations.