Donald Trump has announced that the United States struck another small boat suspected of carrying drugs in waters off Venezuela, killing six people aboard. In a statement on Truth Social, the former president said the vessel was in international waters and that "six male narcoterrorists" were killed, adding that no US forces were harmed.
Trump claimed intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics and linked it to "illicit narcoterrorist networks", though he provided no evidence. He said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the strike on Tuesday morning and shared video footage of the operation, as he has done with previous strikes.
The attack is the fifth deadly US strike in the Caribbean since the beginning of September, according to the Associated Press. It comes weeks after Trump administration officials said the US is in a "non international armed conflict" with drug cartels. An internal memo obtained by the New York Times reportedly deemed cartels "non-state armed groups" whose actions "constitute an armed attack against the United States".
The White House has defended the strikes as targeting members of Tren de Aragua, designated a foreign terrorist organisation. However, UN experts condemned the attacks in September as extrajudicial executions, saying international law does not allow governments to "simply murder alleged drug traffickers" and that criminal activities should be disrupted, investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the rule of law.
Last week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said there were indications that one recent target was Colombian and had Colombians on board. The White House demanded he retract the statement, calling it "baseless and reprehensible". A Senate attempt to require congressional approval for further strikes failed after nearly all Republicans and Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted against it.
