The U.S. military struck another drug vessel on Saturday, killing three “narco-terrorists” and putting the total strikes by the Trump administration on alleged drug boats at over 20.
“On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed. The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific and was struck in international waters,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.
The strike is at least the 21st since the administration began using the tactic to deter drug trafficking in September. In total, 83 alleged “narco-terrorists” have been killed in the attacks.
It comes as the United States has simultaneously amassed a huge armada in the Caribbean Sea, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, ramping up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the U.S. sees as illegitimate and complicit in the drug trafficking enterprise.
Maduro has denied those claims, and recently responded with a military mobilization of his own. That included “almost 200,000” service members, according to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, with “the entire country’s military arsenal on full operational readiness.”
HOUSE REPUBLICAN WARNS OF POTENTIAL SABOTAGE TACTICS BY MADURO IN VENEZUELA
There have also been multiple reports about potential sabotage tactics by the Venezuelan military in the event President Donald Trump authorizes land strikes in the South American country.
So far, Trump has wavered on the aggressive prospect, in what would be a significant escalation of his war on drug cartels. On Saturday, however, Trump told reporters he’s “sort of” decided what the next military action would be, without disclosing any details.
