OAN Staff Taylor Tinsley and Sophia Flores
2:22 PM – Tuesday, October 14, 2025
President Donald Trump has announced another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel trafficking narcotics off the coast of Venezuela.
Trump revealed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the strike on Tuesday morning after intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking drugs associated with illicit narco-terrorist networks.
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike,” Trump said. “No U.S. Forces were harmed.”
Hegseth posted a video of the strike to his X page.
This is the fifth fatal strike against drug traffickers in the Caribbean since President Trump gave Hegseth the okay to carry them out in September, killing 27 in total.
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