US forces have sunk a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in international waters off Venezuela’s coast, killing four people on board, in what marks the fourth such operation under the Trump administration.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike on X, posting a video showing the boat engulfed in flames. “Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed… This strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics headed to America to poison our people. These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!” Hegseth stated.
President Donald Trump endorsed the action on Truth Social, writing: “A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped… from entering American Territory.”
The Pentagon notified Congress of an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, labeling them terrorist organizations and “unlawful combatants” to justify the strikes. This follows at least three prior operations, resulting in a total of 21 deaths. No public evidence has been released confirming the boat’s crew as smugglers, though officials claim it carried significant narcotics.
Venezuelan authorities condemned the incident as a provocation, reporting an “illegal incursion” by five US fighter jets near its shores. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino described it as an attempt to destabilize the region. President Nicolas Maduro called the strikes “an armed aggression to impose regime change, to impose puppet governments, and to steal Venezuela’s oil, gas, gold and all natural resources,” ordering the mobilization of reservists and militias if needed.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) decried the “illegal incursion” as a violation of international law, aimed at instilling fear. Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized the action on X: “The narco-terrorists don’t go in the boats the narcos live in the US, Europe and Dubai. There were poor Caribbean youths on that boat… Striking vessels that could instead be intercepted at sea violates the universal judicial principal of proportionality.”
Tensions have risen with recent US military deployments, including 10 F-35 jets to Puerto Rico the largest in the region in over three decades and multiple American warships. Experts warn that such summary killings may breach international law, even against confirmed traffickers.
The Trump administration frames these operations as essential to counter “decades of decay” in military readiness and protect against cartel “armed attacks” on the US.
