US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US military has carried out its third fatal strike this month against an alleged drug smuggling vessel. In a social media post, Trump stated the strike killed three individuals and targeted a vessel “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narco-trafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.” However, he did not provide specific details about the location of the strike.
The Pentagon deferred questions regarding the strike to the White House, which did not respond to requests for clarity about the origins of the vessel. Trump added, “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans.”
Along with the announcement, Trump posted a video showing the latest strike. The footage depicts a vessel speeding through waters before being hit by a pair of missiles from overhead, resulting in a fiery explosion and the vessel sinking. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung commented on X, “It was at this moment, the narcoterrorists knew they screwed up,” accompanying the video.
Earlier in the week, Trump announced that the US military had conducted a strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, which also resulted in three fatalities. This followed a September 2 military strike on a drug-carrying speedboat that killed 11 people. The Trump administration claimed the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, designated earlier this year by the US as a foreign terrorist organization.
The administration has justified these military actions as necessary escalations to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. However, several senators, including Democrats and some Republicans, alongside human rights groups, have questioned the legality of these strikes. Critics argue the strikes may represent an overreach of executive authority, particularly because military forces were used for law enforcement purposes.
To date, the Trump administration has not explained how the military assessed the boats’ cargo or determined the passengers’ alleged gang affiliations prior to the attacks. National security officials informed members of Congress that the first targeted boat was fired on multiple times after it changed course and appeared to head back toward shore.
These strikes follow a buildup of US maritime forces in the Caribbean, marking a significant shift in how the US approaches drug trafficking combat efforts in the Western Hemisphere.
In Venezuela, some speculate whether these strikes are part of a broader plan to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro’s government, a notion Maduro himself has echoed. After the first strike, Maduro claimed that a US video released by Trump was created using artificial intelligence and argued that a boat of that size could not venture into the high seas.
Earlier this week, Maduro lashed out at the US administration, accusing it of using drug trafficking accusations as a pretext for a military operation intended “to intimidate and seek regime change” in Venezuela.
*This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, or accuracy of the information provided. Mid-day management and mid-day.com reserve the sole right to alter, delete, or remove content at their absolute discretion without prior notice.*
https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/donald-trump-says-us-has-carried-out-another-fatal-strike-targeting-alleged-drug-smuggling-boat-23594928
About the Author
