Former President Donald Trump has announced that the United States conducted another strike against a vessel off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in six fatalities.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump characterized the targeted vessel as belonging to “narcoterrorists” allegedly “trafficking narcotics.”
This marks the fifth such strike by the Trump administration on vessels accused of drug trafficking in international waters since September. While a total of 27 deaths have been reported, the U.S. government has not released evidence or specific details regarding the identities of the vessels or the individuals onboard.
Legal experts have raised concerns about potential violations of international law, and neighboring nations such as Colombia and Venezuela have voiced condemnation of the strikes.
Trump’s Truth Social post stated that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known” smuggling route.
Accompanying the statement was an aerial surveillance video purportedly depicting a small boat being struck by a missile, resulting in an explosion.
Trump did not disclose the nationalities of those killed or the drug trafficking organization to which they were allegedly linked. He stated that no U.S. military personnel sustained injuries.
The strike follows the recent circulation of a leaked memo to Congress, reported by U.S. media outlets, indicating the administration’s determination that the U.S. is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.
The U.S. government has defended these strikes on alleged drug trafficking vessels as acts of self-defense, despite legal challenges questioning their legality.
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