The U.S. military carried out a lethal strike on a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean, according to reports. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed details of the operation, which occurred amid heightened tensions over narcotics trafficking.
President Donald Trump announced the strike during a press conference in the Oval Office, stating, “Over the last few minutes, [we] literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat.” He emphasized the significance of the action, noting the vessel contained “a lot of drugs” and that further information would follow.
The operation took place one month after Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth deployed U.S. warships near Venezuela to target drug cartels. The strike occurred as the U.S. Navy increased its presence in the region, with three warships stationed off Venezuela’s coast as part of an anti-drug mission. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemned the move, calling it an “extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.”
The Trump administration has long accused Maduro’s government of collaborating with drug cartels to smuggle narcotics into the U.S., a claim Maduro’s regime denies. The latest military action marks a significant escalation in efforts to disrupt trafficking routes in the Caribbean.