President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. had carried out a strike against a speedboat said to be carrying narcotics in the southern Caribbean.
“Earlier this morning, on my orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump has designated Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization founded in Venezuela’s prisons, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Video of the strike, shared on social media, shows a speedboat gliding through the water before bursting into flames.
Tren de Aragua is “operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” according to Trump.
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Maduro is the dictator of the South American nation of Venezuela and has been acting as the nation’s president since 2013.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,” according to Trump. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike.”
“Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America,” Trump wrote, adding: “BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!”
The cartels and various criminal organizations are increasingly transporting drugs in boats following the crackdown at the southern border since Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20.
The Caribbean has become a hot spot for drug smuggling, given that travel from Puerto Rico to the U.S. is domestic.
Most of the drugs entering Puerto Rico are smuggled in via boat, according to Chief Patrol Agent Reggie Johnson of the Ramey Sector, which includes the Caribbean. Once inside the U.S. territory, he says it is easier for smugglers to get the drugs to the U.S. mainland, because flights are domestic from the Caribbean into the U.S.
The Caribbean’s geographical location makes it a prime region for drug smuggling, according to Johnson. Specifically, Puerto Rico can be thought of as a “bridge to the U.S.,” because it is geographically close to Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic—high drug-producing nations, Johnson says.
The U.S. has been building up its naval presence in the southern Caribbean in recent weeks to address the threat of drug smuggling. Maduro has been critical of the action, claiming the U.S. is seeking to bring about a regime change in Venezuela.
Maduro has deployed troops along its coastline and its border with Colombia. During a press conference Monday, the Venezuelan dictator said that in the “face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela.”
The U.S. has not indicated any plans to launch an attack on Venezuela.
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