ALBAWABA- The United States military has carried out a second strike this month against an alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean, killing three people, President Donald Trump announced today.
The operation, conducted by U.S. Southern Command, targeted a boat suspected of carrying narcotics linked to the Tren de Aragua cartel. Washington has accused the group of moving cocaine and fentanyl precursors across the region.
Trump described the strike as “a decisive blow against narco-terrorists enabled by Maduro’s regime,” claiming the vessel was bound for Central America with a multi-ton shipment.
The action follows an earlier U.S. strike in early September that destroyed another suspected narco-boat, leaving 11 dead.
Analysts say the latest interdictions reflect Trump’s return to a hardline foreign policy, with preemptive military measures aimed at halting drug flows “at their source.”
Trump issued a warning to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying similar operations would continue unless Caracas stopped what Washington calls its complicity in trafficking networks. “If Venezuela doesn’t clean up its act, we’ll keep sinking their boats,” Trump said.
Maduro rejected the allegations, denouncing the strikes as “imperialist aggression” and accusing the U.S. of violating Venezuelan sovereignty. In a televised address, he insisted the vessel was a civilian fishing boat and accused Washington of fabricating evidence to justify “regime-change plots.”
He vowed to strengthen coastal defenses and suggested Venezuela could seek closer military ties with Russia and Iran.
The confrontation marks a sharp escalation in already fraught U.S.-Venezuelan relations. Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed additional sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports and labeled Maduro’s government a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
The military actions raise fears of a broader naval standoff in the Caribbean, with regional powers like Colombia and Brazil urging restraint to avoid further instability.
