Donald Trump Says US Hit Third Vessel Smuggling Drugs: ‘Carried Out Lethal Kinetic Strike’

Donald Trump warned against selling fentanyl, narcotics and illegal drugs to Americans. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump Friday said US forces carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel following his orders to attack a boat which the US intelligence confirmed was trafficking drugs, according to broadcaster BBC.

The boat was in the US Southern Command’s area of responsibility and was the third such strike on boats allegedly smuggling drugs into the US in recent weeks.

Trump in a social media post said the strike was carried out against a vessel “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.” He did not provide more precise details about the location of the strike.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans,” Trump said in the post.

Trump also posted a video of the latest strike that shows a vessel speeding through waters before it appears to be struck by a pair of missiles from overhead and sink in a fiery explosion.

“It was at this moment, the narcoterrorists knew they screwed up,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said on X in a posting with the video.

“”No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!” Trump further added in his social media post.

The US Southern Command’s area of responsibility spans most of South America and the Caribbean. Two earlier strikes targeted boats allegedly linked to Venezuela, leaving 14 people dead. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has condemned the attacks, accusing Washington of “aggression” and warning that his country will defend itself.

The US President earlier this week announced the US military had carried out a strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela. That strike also killed three on board.

That followed a September 2 military strike on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat that killed 11. Trump claimed the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which was listed by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.

The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.