President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social in September that he ordered a lethal strike on a vessel linked to a designated terrorist organization operating in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility. (@realDonaldTrump via 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."
The strikes come after the White House sent lawmakers a memo Sept. 30 informing them that the U.S. is now participating in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug smugglers.
Additionally, it comes on the heels of four other fatal strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean since September.
On Friday, the Department of War unveiled a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the Southern Command area of responsibility, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
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The task force seeks to "crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe," Hegseth wrote on X Friday. "The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold."
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks at a press conference introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025 on April 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Trump has suggested that the strikes will continue and told military leaders in September the "military is now the knife's edge in combating this sinister enemy."
"We have to put the traffickers and cartels on notice. … If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence, because that's the only language they really understand," Trump told military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, Sept. 30. "That's why you don't see any more boats in the ocean. You don't see any boats around Venezuela. There's nothing."
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-touts-another-us-strike-near-venezuela-killed-six-alleged-drug-smugglers