President Donald Trump has launched a strike on a second alleged drug smuggling boat from Venezuela, killing three people on board as he hints at more attacks to come.
Less than two weeks after the first lethal strike took place in the Caribbean Sea, Trump announced on social media on Monday that he had ordered the military to blow up a second boat he claimed was “transporting illegal narcotics” and headed for the United States.
In a Truth Social post accompanied by a grainy video of the boat exploding in international waters, he also warned in capital letters: “IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, 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,” Trump wrote.
“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. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike.”
The latest announcement is likely to inflame tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. and will raise further questions about the legality of the attack.
Maritime drug laws usually require drug runners to be rounded up by the Coast Guard and their vessels seized, not blown up.
Concerns of executive overreach were also raised two weeks ago, when the administration announced the first lethal strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela, which killed 11 people.
Trump claimed that the people targeted at the time were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which the U.S. designated a terrorist group in February.
However, the administration provided few details about how the attack was carried out or what sort of drugs were on board.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the administration views as an illegitimate leader, has also accused the U.S. of trying to justify a “criminal attack” against his country.
“This isn’t tension. It is an aggression all down the line, it’s a judicial aggression when they criminalize us, a political aggression with their daily threatening statements, a diplomatic aggression and an ongoing aggression of military character,” he said on Monday.
However, asked earlier this month what authority the Pentagon had to conduct strikes of this nature, War Secretary Pete Hegseth replied: “We have the absolute authority and complete authority to conduct that.”
“First of all, just the defense of the American people alone. A hundred thousand Americans were killed each year under the previous administration because of an open border and open drug traffic flow. That is an assault on the American people,” he said.
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