A vessel transporting drugs from Venezuela was destroyed and nearly a dozen narco-terrorists were killed by the U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday.
“We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,” the President announced during an afternoon press conference in the Oval Office.
“And you’ll be seeing that, and you’ll be reading about that. It just happened moments ago.”
🚨 @POTUS: We just, over the last few minutes, shot out a drug-carrying boat… and there's more where that came from… These came out of Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/JlurCZWBpG
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 2, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the operational success in a statement released just after 3 p.m. EDT.
“As [POTUS] just announced moments ago, today the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Carribean against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization,” Rubio explained in a statement on social media.
Hours later, the White House released footage of the strike and additional details.
“U.S. Military Forces conducted a strike against Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists. The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the U.S. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action,” the White House stated.
US Military Obliterates Tren de Aragua Drug Boat in Caribbean Sea
11 narco-terrorists eliminated by precision strike near Venezuela on Tuesdaypic.twitter.com/T16ZT3Wn05
— Border Hawk (@BorderHawkNews) September 2, 2025
Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have been escalating.
Seven U.S. warships and a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are reportedly already patrolling the Southern Caribbean or will be soon, along with more than 4,500 sailors and marines.
These forces are in place to “combat and dismantle drug trafficking organizations, criminal cartels and these foreign terrorist organizations in our hemisphere,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller stated on Friday.
The Maduro regime claims the U.S. presence in the region is a direct threat and could signal military conflict in the near future.
“Venezuelans know who is behind these military threats by the United States against our country,” Venezuela’s Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said last week.
“We are not drug traffickers, we are noble and hard-working people.”
