The U.S. military blew up another cartel boat off the coast of Venezuela, notching one more successful strike against drug trafficking in the continuing operation in the Southern Caribbean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday on X.
The strike, which occurred in the early morning Friday under U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), killed all four males aboard a ship sailing in international waters, Hegseth said in the announcement. The bombing adds to a growing list of strikes against the violent criminal cartels trafficking drugs into the United States that have taken place since President Donald Trump designated them Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
“Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route,” Hegseth said in his announcement on X. “These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!”
Earlier this morning, on President Trump’s orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the… pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025
The Trump administration is referring to cartel members killed in the strikes as “unlawful combatants” in a memo sent to Congress regarding a September 15 strike on one of the vessels being used for trafficking. A White House official told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the memo was not notable and reflected standard procedure for strikes of this nature, saying the memo “does not convey any new information.”
“As we have said many times, the President acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told the DCNF.
Venezuela has long been a hotbed for cartel activity, with Tren de Aragua the nation’s most infamous criminal organization. The gang originated from a brutal prison in Venezuela and made its way to American shores under the Biden administration.
“A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory,” Trump said on Truth Social Friday.
The State Department has also alleged that Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro is deeply involved with the Cartel of the Suns, another infamous gang comprised of multiple high-ranking government officials.
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