Trump Orders Military Strike on Venezuelan Drug Boat Linked to Tren de Aragua
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that U.S. military forces had destroyed a drug-laden boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing 11 suspected members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang.
In a post shared on his official Instagram account, Trump released dramatic footage showing a small vessel being targeted and obliterated in international waters. The strike, he said, was personally authorized under his directive to intensify military action against foreign narcoterrorist organizations.
“Earlier this morning, on my orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote, sharing the video of the fiery explosion.
The U.S. president described Tren de Aragua (TDA) as a “designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro,” and accused the group of mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and orchestrating violent crimes across the United States and the Western Hemisphere.
According to Trump, the gang members were transporting illegal narcotics by sea and were en route to the United States when they were intercepted.
“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike,” he stated.
Trump further warned criminal groups seeking to smuggle drugs into the country: “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”
This marks the first publicly acknowledged strike on a cartel-linked operation since Trump authorized the military to conduct direct attacks earlier this year, according to The New York Post.
The Caribbean and northern South America remain major transit hubs for cocaine bound for North America and Europe.
While footage of the explosion circulated widely online, U.S. officials have not released details on the type or quantity of drugs carried by the vessel.
