Venezuela received a warning from the U.S. military on Thursday, two days after U.S. forces attacked a ship President Donald Trump said was carrying drugs for a Venezuela-based gang.
“Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters. This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations,” the Defense Department said in a post on X.
“The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military.”
— Department of Defense ???????? (@DeptofDefense) September 5, 2025
The U.S. has about 4,000 troops deployed around Latin America and the Caribbean as part of its fight against drug cartels, several of which have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations — a designation that allows the military to become involved, according to CNN.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro responded by deploying troops and militias.
On Tuesday, the U.S. attacked a ship Trump said was linked to the Tren de Aragua gang and was carrying drugs to the U.S.
“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 on Truth Social.
“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” the president continued.
“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there is more where that came from, according to Time.
“We’ve got assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships, because this is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t — it won’t stop with just this strike,” Hegseth said on Wednesday.
“Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco-terrorist will face the same fate,” Hegseth continued.
WARNING: The following video contains images of violence that may be disturbing for some readers.
Trump releases video of Venezuelan ship allegedly carrying drugs being bombed by the US Military.pic.twitter.com/YqaSBNiBnF
— Utopic News (@utopicposts) September 2, 2025
When asked why the ship was attacked instead of merely stopped, Trump said Wednesday, there were “massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people, and everybody fully understands that.”
“Obviously, they won’t be doing it again. And I think a lot of other people won’t be doing it again. When they watch that tape, they’re going to say, ‘Let’s not do this,’” Trump said, referring to a video of the attack he posted on Truth Social.
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