U.S. forces on Monday struck another boat from Venezuela, killing three “narcoterrorists” transporting drugs through international waters, President Trump said.
Mr. Trump posted video footage purportedly showing the operation to his Truth Social account. The video shows a small boat exploding, presumably after being hit by the American strike. The Pentagon did not immediately release details about the mission.
In his post, the president said he gave the order to strike. He indicated further strikes on drug boats and told traffickers in an all-caps warning that “we are hunting you.”
“This morning, on my orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” said Mr. Trump, referring to the U.S. Southern Command area of operations.
“The strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in international waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests,” Mr. Trump said.
It was the second strike in as many weeks against alleged drug-carrying speedboats in the region.
On Saturday, the Venezuelan government accused the U.S. military of boarding a tuna boat with innocent fishermen aboard. No one was killed or injured, and the fishermen were released under escort from the Venezuelan navy, media reports said.
U.S. officials said the strike on Sept. 2 killed 11 members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-based criminal gang that the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The White House said the boat was in international waters. Mr. Trump did not say whether the people targeted Monday were also affiliated with that group.
The latest operation is sure to spark more criticism from lawmakers who say the administration’s approach could put American troops in harm’s way and from scholars, analysts and members of Congress who question the underlying legal justification for such operations.
It will also stoke more tension between the U.S. and Venezuela. Before Mr. Trump revealed the latest strike, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News on Monday that the U.S. does not view Nicolas Maduro as the rightful leader of Venezuela but rather as, essentially, the illegitimate leader of a narco-state.
“We’re not going to have a cartel, operating or masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere,” Mr. Rubio said.
Critics say such missions are dangerous on several grounds. First, they argue, the administration has offered little solid evidence about exactly what was on the targeted boats or exactly who was aboard the vessels at the time of the engagements.
Key Democrats also argue that usual military procedures did not appear to be followed in these instances, specifically the protocol that such boats are to be interdicted without the use of deadly force when possible.
“My fear is, there are still international laws of the sea about how the process of interdicting these kinds of boats, they’re supposed to be a firing of a warning shot,” Sen. Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat and vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told CBS News on Sept. 7. “You’re supposed to try to take it peacefully. My understanding, this boat, none of those procedures are followed. … What I’m worried about is if we put our sailors in harm’s way by violating international law, unless there is the appropriate designations, could this come back and hurt those sailors?”
Amid soaring tensions with the U.S., Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told journalists Saturday that a Venezuelan tuna boat was “illegally and hostilely boarded by a United States Navy destroyer.” Details of that incident remain murky, but it may have been another sign that the Trump administration is prepared to significantly ramp up pressure on the Venezuelan government and the drug traffickers transporting narcotics to the U.S.
The Maduro government has responded to increased U.S. military activity in the region by deploying its own troops along the coast and along its border with Colombia.
The government has called for enlistments into its civilian militia.
“In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela,” Mr. Maduro said on Sept. 2.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.