US Strikes Another Boat Leaving Venezuela

President Trump announced on Truth Social that he had ordered another strike on a suspected drug boat leaving Venezuela. Trump said that “3 male terrorists” were killed in the strike.

This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike. BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!

Here’s the video of the strike which happened this morning.

BREAKING: U.S. military strikes another boat near Venezuela, killing 3 alleged drug traffickers pic.twitter.com/r5Cfrx7Rq3

— BNO News (@BNONews) September 15, 2025

This follows a strike which happened two weeks ago and which killed 11.

The attack came two weeks after the military struck another alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean. The president said 11 people were killed in that strike. The boat appeared to be turning around when it was hit, CBS News has previously reported.

Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have ratcheted up in recent weeks, as the Trump administration accuses Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his government of collaborating with gangs and drug cartels — a charge Venezuela has denied. Last month, the Trump administration doubled the reward for Maduro’s capture on criminal charges to $50 million.

Today’s strike came shortly after President Maduro of Venezuela denounced the previous strike.

The deadly attack President Trump ordered early this month on what he said was a drug-smuggling Venezuelan boat was a “heinous crime,” Venezuela’s president said on Monday — just before Mr. Trump boasted of destroying a second boat.

Speaking to reporters in Caracas, the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, said that the Sept. 2 attack, which killed 11 people, violated U.S. and international laws. If the United States believed that the boat’s passengers were drug traffickers — as Americans officials have claimed — they should have been captured, he said.

Mr. Maduro called the action “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country” and claimed that the United States was trying to goad Venezuela into a “major war.” The American goal, Mr. Maduro claimed, was “regime change for oil,” and not drug interdiction, which the Trump administration has said is a main goal in the region…

The Venezuelan government has released almost no information about the 11 men, and has claimed that a video of the bombing was fake.

President Trump is getting approval from a former cartel member who said drug traffickers must be “fearful” now.

Margarito “Jay” Flores Jr., who made millions with his twin brother as members of El Chapo’s Sinaloa cartel, backed Trump’s tough stance against drug trafficking in Latin America on Sunday as the only method that will work against the crime syndicates.

“I think the aggressive approach is going to send a strong message to every drug trafficker across Latin America and places like Venezuela that’s used as a transport hub from Mexican cartels and Columbian organizations,” Flores told Fox News.

“…They’re going after everyone,” he added. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a president of a country or a drug trafficker. There’s a lot of fearful drug traffickers.”

Flores Jr. also recommended that the administration could crack down on the cartels by looking for bundles of cash headed south across the border.

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