The United States has been cracking down on drug trafficking and other illegal activities in the Western Hemisphere, specifically targeting Venezuela in recent months. Trump has consistently announced airstrikes against “narcoterrorist” boats, and Tuesday saw the most recent tactical strike.
Trump announced on Tuesday on Truth Social that the Department of War carried out an airstrike against a vessel off the coast of Venezuela, killing those aboard.
‘The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold.’
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela,” he said in the post.
Trump explained the reason for the strike and its aftermath: “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.”
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Trump’s post about the airstrike comes days after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a “new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force” in USSOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility. The mission of the task force, according to Hegseth, is “to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.”
USSOUTHCOM, or U.S. Southern Command, is one of 11 combatant commands under the Department of War. USSOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility includes the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico, the waters adjacent to Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea. It is also responsible for securing the Panama Canal, according to its website.
“The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold,” Hegseth added.
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