- President Donald Trump has confirmed a US military strike on a drug-laden vessel in the southern Caribbean, killing 11 alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
- The boat was reportedly transporting narcotics to the US when it was targeted in international waters.
- The strike marks a sharp escalation in Trump’s crackdown on Latin American drug cartels, with Venezuela’s President Maduro warning of armed resistance.
- The US has deployed thousands of troops and naval assets to the region, intensifying diplomatic and military tensions.
The southern Caribbean has become the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s war on drug cartels — and Venezuela is at the center of the storm.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that US military forces had carried out a precision strike on a vessel allegedly operated by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The boat, said to be carrying narcotics bound for the United States, was intercepted in international waters. Eleven suspected narco-terrorists were killed in the operation, according to Trump, who shared a grainy aerial video of the boat bursting into flames.
The strike comes amid a broader military buildup in the region. Over the past two months, the US has deployed additional warships and thousands of Marines and sailors to the southern Caribbean, signaling a more aggressive posture toward transnational criminal networks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the operation, calling it a “lethal strike” against a designated terrorist organization. The State Department has previously labeled Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns — which US officials allege is linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — as foreign terrorist groups.
Maduro, who faces a $50 million US bounty for alleged drug trafficking, has condemned the military deployments as a threat to regional stability. On Monday, he warned that Venezuela would “declare a republic in arms” if attacked, calling the US presence “the greatest threat seen on our continent in the last 100 years.”
While the exact type and quantity of drugs on the vessel remain unclear, Trump’s message was blunt: anyone attempting to smuggle narcotics into the US should expect forceful retaliation.
As tensions mount, the strike raises questions about the legal and diplomatic implications of targeting foreign criminal groups with military force — and whether this marks the beginning of a new phase in US-Venezuela relations.
