Trump: U.S. strikes second boat carrying drugs from Venezuela, 3 ‘narcoterrorists’ killed

U.S. forces on Monday struck another boat carrying drugs from Venezuela, President Trump said, killing three “narcoterrorists” transporting the narcotics through international waters.

Mr. Trump posted video footage purportedly showing the operation to his Truth Social account. In the video, a small boat is seen exploding, presumably after being hit by the American strike. The Pentagon did not immediately release details about the mission.

In his post, the president said he gave the order to strike another boat. Mr. Trump also indicated that there will be more strikes on drug boats in the future, telling the alleged drug traffickers in an all-caps warning that “we are hunting you.”

“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,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the U.S. Southern Command area of operations.

“The strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in international waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests,” Mr. Trump said.

It was the second strike in as many weeks against alleged drug-carrying speedboats in the region. It also came just two days after the Venezuelan government accused the U.S. military of boarding a tuna boat with innocent fishermen aboard. No one was killed or injured in that incident, and the fishermen were later released under escort from the Venezuelan navy, according to media reports.

U.S. officials said that the first deadly strike on Sept. 2 killed 11 members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-based criminal gang that the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The White House said the boat was in international waters when it was destroyed. Mr. Trump did not say whether the individuals targeted Monday were also affiliated with that group.

The latest operation is sure to spark more criticism from lawmakers who say the administration’s approach could put American troops in harm’s way, and from scholars, analysts and members of Congress who question the underlying legal justification for such operations.

It will also stoke more tension between the U.S. and Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, before Mr. Trump revealed the latest strike, told Fox News that the U.S. does not view Mr. Maduro as the rightful leader of Venezuela and as, essentially, the illegitimate leader of a narco-state.

“We’re not going to have a cartel, operating or masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere,” Mr. Rubio said.

Critics say such missions are dangerous on several grounds. First, they argue, the administration has offered little solid evidence about exactly what was on the targeted boats or exactly who was aboard the vessels at the time of the engagements.

Key Democrats also argue that it appears usual military procedures are not being followed in these instances, specifically the protocol that such boats are to be interdicted without the use of deadly force when possible.

“My fear is, there are still international laws of the sea about how the process of interdicting these kinds of boats, they’re supposed to be a firing of a warning shot,” Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS News on Sept. 7. “You’re supposed to try to take it peacefully. My understanding, this boat, none of those procedures are followed. … What I’m worried about is if we put our sailors in harm’s way by violating international law, unless there is the appropriate designations, could this come back and hurt those sailors?”

Amid soaring U.S.-Venezuela tensions, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told journalists on Saturday that a Venezuelan tuna boat was “illegally and hostilely boarded by a United States Navy destroyer.” Details of that incident remain murky, but it may have been another sign that the Trump administration is prepared to significantly ramp up pressure on both the Venezuelan government and the drug traffickers allegedly transporting narcotics to the U.S.

The Maduro government has responded to increased U.S. military activity in the region by deploying its own troops along the coast and along its border with Colombia.

The government has also called for enlistments into its civilian militia.