President Donald Trump says the vessel was carrying drugs from Venezuela.
The US has destroyed another vessel in international waters allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced on Monday.
Trump said the attack was part of his Caribbean crackdown on cartels he claims are backed by the Venezuelan government, a charge Caracas denies.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president shared a video of the strike on a boat he described as being operated by “positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists.” Three people were killed, he said.
“BE WARNED – IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!” Trump wrote.
The operation follows a September 2 strike that destroyed a similar vessel and killed 11 people, according to Trump.
The US imposed sanctions on Venezuela during Trump’s first term and recently doubled its reward for information leading to President Nicolas Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
Maduro has denounced the US military buildup off Venezuela’s coast as part of a campaign to topple him. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said last week that the country was ready for a “prolonged war” if open conflict breaks out.
Another grotesque violation of international law. If they were so sure they were smuggling into the US, why not arrest them in US waters and follow due process? This is no different from gunning people down for a crime they have not been convicted of, which is a crime in its own right.