Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. forces sank three boats transporting narcotics from Venezuela, updating earlier reports that two vessels had been struck.
“We knocked off actually three boats, not two. But you saw two,” Trump told reporters during a press gaggle at the White House. “The problem is there are very few boats out on the water … I can’t imagine why, not even fishing boats.”
On Monday night, Trump said U.S. forces destroyed a boat carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three people onboard. He added that the military would continue targeting drug cartels.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “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. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics … The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike.”
Monday’s operation came less than two weeks after a Sept. 2 strike in which U.S. forces destroyed a high-speed vessel that authorities said had departed from Venezuela, leaving 11 people dead. In recent weeks, Washington has expanded its military footprint in the Caribbean, sending in the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with three ships, along with two guided-missile destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser, a nuclear attack submarine and a Littoral Combat Ship.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday condemned the actions as “aggression,” pointing to the U.S. Navy buildup in the Caribbean and the attack on the earlier vessel. He said Caracas will “fully” exercise its “legitimate right to defend itself.”
Trump responded Tuesday by demanding that Venezuela end drug smuggling to the United States and halt the flow of Tren de Aragua gang members across the border. He also alleged that the Maduro government has sent prisoners into the country, but said border security efforts have stopped illegal entries.
“Another month with zero people getting into our country,” Trump said. “Nobody has ever done on the border like I’ve done.”
