President Donald Trump has announced that the United States carried out a military strike in the southern Caribbean, sinking a vessel allegedly carrying narcotics and killing 11 suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
In a social media post, Trump described the suspects as “narcoterrorists” and said the operation targeted a boat transporting drugs bound for the US. The vessel was reportedly in international waters when it was intercepted and destroyed. His post was accompanied by an aerial video showing a motorboat speeding through rough seas before erupting in flames.
The strike marks the latest escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has increased military deployments in the Caribbean and announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture on drug-trafficking charges. The US has also formally designated several Latin American criminal organisations, including Tren de Aragua and the so-called Cartel of the Suns, as terrorist groups.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the strike, saying the vessel had departed from Venezuela and was operated by a designated narco-terrorist organisation. He framed the operation as part of a broader US effort to cut off the flow of drugs across the Caribbean into American markets.
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The Venezuelan government has rejected US claims. Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez suggested, without providing evidence, that the video Trump shared might have been generated with artificial intelligence. Maduro himself vowed that Venezuela would resist any foreign intervention, calling the recent US military build-up in the region “the greatest threat seen on our continent in 100 years.”
It remains unclear what type or quantity of drugs the vessel was believed to be carrying. Nevertheless, the incident underscores Washington’s willingness to use direct military force in its fight against narcotics trafficking and its wider confrontation with the Maduro regime.
Trump’s message ended with a warning: “There’s more where that came from.”
The strike, and the deaths of 11 alleged traffickers, is expected to heighten already tense US–Venezuelan relations and spark renewed debate over the use of military power in anti-drug operations.