The outrage over the Trump administration blasting drug dealers trying to bring drugs to America out of the water has been ridiculous, especially from people like Rand Paul, who don’t seem to understand that we’ve been at war with the drug cartels for decades.
When drugs are killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, it makes sense for a president to be proactive in protecting the country.
People pushing the ‘innocent fisherman’ BS have been the most annoying … which is probably why Twitchy favorite DataRepublican saw fit to put together a deep-dive thread on the boat.
Take a look:
🚨🇻🇪🚤 THREAD: No, there were not “innocent fishermen” on that boat
On Sept 2, a U.S. strike destroyed a go-fast leaving San Juan de Unare, Sucre. Some on social media are pushing the “poor fishermen” line. This thread unpacks why that narrative doesn’t hold water (no pun… pic.twitter.com/14UnOU4fT9
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Post continues:
… intended.
- Origin: Unare = entrenched cartel hub (Tren de Aragua / Tren del Llano).
- Destination: Pre-programmed GPS to Trinidad, a narco transshipment leg.
- Vessel: 12m “flipper,” 4×200HP outboards. No fisherman runs that setup.
- TTPs: Multi-boat launch, jettisoned cargo, night run. Classic narco playbook.
- Families in Unare themselves admitted these men had “entered that world” for pay.
Stay tuned, I’ll walk through the receipts.
As usual, you might want to grab a snack.
The boat was a “flipper” designed to outrun law enforcement, typical in drug smuggling configuration, and Sun Juan de Unare is dominated by drug trafficking. pic.twitter.com/1eveSMoX1F
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Recommended
Read that again, a boat designed to outrun law enforcement.
Keep going.
Even in Unare itself, no one pretends the crew were innocent. Local social media tributes openly mourn them as “fathers of family… who enter that world only out of necessity.” In other words: these men were indeed involved in drug smuggling… because poverty left them few… pic.twitter.com/nCXmfBX0tT
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Only out of necessity doesn’t exactly sound like someone going fishing, right?
The boat was operating at night. Local reports say that before the US military approached them, they jettisoned cargo. pic.twitter.com/ZKUbzwPZK7
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Hrm.
Drugs are not the only thing that Tren de Aragua smuggles. They have been implicated in trafficking migrants to the United States. But Unare is specifically known for drug trafficking. pic.twitter.com/L0rcdo1NNm
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
So drug AND human trafficking.
Fishing villages along Venezuela’s eastern coast have become prime targets for cartels because of their proximity to the Caribbean islands. Cocaine flows in from Colombia, and gangs such as Tren del Llano and Tren de Aragua fight to dominate the maritime routes across to Trinidad… pic.twitter.com/nELmpIZJRV
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Yikes.
Maduro says the U.S. strike video was “AI generated” and insists Tren de Aragua was dismantled years ago.
Funny thing though… somehow U.S. courts keep indicting fresh TdA members in 2024 and 2025. Either we’re prosecuting ghosts, or Caracas is lying through its teeth. pic.twitter.com/zJd1T5O1rV— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
AI-generated.
THERE it is.
Our intelligence agencies have stated plainly that Maduro is not coordinating with Tren de Aragua or other gangs. Marco Rubio flatly rejects that assessment. And just last week, Tulsi Gabbard removed the senior IC officials who authored that assessment. pic.twitter.com/f5toigBBkP
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Rubio, the man of a thousand jobs. Heh.
A Venezuelan journalist who specializes in Tren de Aragua estimated the boat’s cocaine load at roughly $120 million in street value. And it wasn’t the only vessel that night; according to his sources, two other drug-laden boats left Unare just before it and slipped through… pic.twitter.com/N3pOPVbtS2
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
WOW.
The administration’s focus on Tren de Aragua didn’t come out of nowhere. In February, the US government designated cartels as FTOs (foreign terrorist organizations) and Bessent started sanctioning their leaders in July. pic.twitter.com/Lix9lQc3Wp
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Why weren’t cartels labeled as Foreign Terrorist Organizations earlier? Honestly, I don’t know the full answer. But I did find one interesting explanation: giving cartels an FTO label could legally expose migrants who pay them for passage to being treated as if they had provided… pic.twitter.com/w5bc8mlnUX
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Hrm again.
The average Venezuelan income is $60-65 a month. Typical fishing boats are Pinero boats and Panga-style skiffs.
By contrast, the motors on the Venezuelan boat that got blown up would have cost around $20,000 … each. pic.twitter.com/au3NUWA44x
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
In other words, not just innocent fishermen trying to make a living.
What makes this strike stand out is how far it veered from the usual playbook. Normally, U.S. forces intercept, board, and seize. Rubio flatly said: “intercepting no longer works.”
My read: the U.S. wants the blast itself to serve as the message, a shockwave meant to rattle the… pic.twitter.com/egplYy1dnX
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Intercepting no longer works.
In conclusion: that boat was a cartel flipper, crewed by men running cocaine.
The locals admit it. The intel shows it. The tactics prove it.
All the hand-wringing you see online is gaslighting. Notice the same voices stayed silent for decades while Washington meddled in South…
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 7, 2025
Gaslighting? On X? GET OUTTA HERE.
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