Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump On Tuesday, the US said it had struck in the Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from it. Venezuela And it was run by the Tren de Aragua gang.
The president said 11 had been killed in surgery.
“The strike occurred when terrorists were in the ocean in international waters heading towards the US, transporting illegal drugs,” Trump said in a social media post. “The US military was not harmed on this strike. Please use this as a notice even for those considering bringing drugs into the United States.”
President Donald Trump will talk about the Washington event on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, regarding the relocation of the White House’s US Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio In X, he stated that the ship was run by a “designated narcotelist organization.” He described the surgery as a fatal strike.
Rubio spoke to the strike just before he was scheduled to leave for Mexico and Ecuador on Tuesday. For lectures on drug cartels, security, tariffs and more.
The US recently announced plans to boost it Sea marine forces off the coast of Venezuela I’ll fight Threats from Latin American drug cartels.
The United States has not informed of planned land invasions by thousands of staff deployed. Still, President Nicolas Maduro’s government responded by deploying troops along the Venezuelan coast, borders with neighboring Colombia, and urging Venezuelans to join the militia.
Maduro claims that the US is building a false drug trafficking narrative in order to get him out of his profession. He and other government officials have repeatedly cited UN reports that show they are attempting to move only 5% of the cocaine produced in Colombia through Venezuela. Bolivia and Colombia, inland, with access to the Pacific and Caribbean, are the world’s top cocaine producers.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will speak at a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela on Monday, September 1, 2025 (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
The latest UN Drug Report shows that various South American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported cocaine attacks in 2022 rather than 2021, but Venezuela has not assigned the oversized role the White House has in recent months.
“The impact of increased cocaine trafficking has been felt, especially in Ecuador, and in recent years we have seen a wave of deadly violence from local and transnational criminal groups, particularly Mexico and the Balkans,” according to the report.
Maduro told reporters Monday that if his country was attacked by US forces deployed in the Caribbean, he would “declare the Republic with weapons in the Constitution.”
Venezuelan government news outlets did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s announcement.
The Pentagon did not immediately comment on the reported incident.
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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.
