WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Friday that the US military carried out a third strike against alleged drug traffickers affiliated with a terror organization — killing “3 male narcoterrorists.”
“On my Orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The president did not say which terror group was targeted or which nation the vessel originated from.
The US has been conducting an aggressive campaign to counter Venezuela’s state-backed cartel. Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans,” Trump continued.
Three men aboard the boat were killed, and no US forces were harmed in the attack, according to Trump, who said the vessel was traveling in international waters.
Footage of the airstrike included in Trump’s post shows a small boat racing across the ocean before the massive explosion leaves it engulfed in flames.
“STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!” he warned.
Trump ordered the first military strike targeting alleged drug-smuggling terrorists on Sept. 2.
The blast killed 11 suspected members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang the Trump administration has designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization operating under the control of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime, as their boat traveled in open waters.
The second US strike against Venezuela-based drug traffickers took place on Sept. 15, killing 3 “male terrorists,” who were once again using a boat to smuggle narcotics, according to Trump.
The latest strike killed “3 male narcoterrorists.” AP
President Trump didn’t indicate which terrorist group was targeted in the attack. Truth Social/@realDonaldTrumpThe president posted videos of both airstrikes on Truth Social.
The US Navy has deployed at least eight warships to the Caribbean Sea as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on drug trafficking conducted by Maduro-linked narcoterrorist groups.
Highly advanced F-35 fighter jets have also been deployed to the region, with at least five of the stealth aircraft spotted landing in Puerto Rico in recent days.
The Trump administration has also placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro’s head.
