US says more operations against cartels coming after strike on Venezuela boat

Senior US national security officials said on Wednesday that military operations against cartels would continue, setting the stage for a sustained military campaign in Latin America even as basic questions about a deadly strike against a vessel from Venezuela remained unanswered. The US military killed 11 people on Tuesday in a strike on a vessel from Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal narcotics, in the first known operation since President Donald Trump’s recent deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean. Little is known about the strike, including what legal justification was used or what drugs were on board, but US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said operations would continue. “We’ve got assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships, because this is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t stop with just this strike,” Hegseth said on FOX & Friends. “Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco-terrorist will face the same fate,” Hegseth said. He declined to provide details on how the operation was carried out, saying they were classified. It is unknown whether the vessel was destroyed using a drone, torpedo, or by some other means. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Mexico City, said similar strikes would happen again. “Maybe it’s happening right now, I don’t know, but the point is the president of the United States is going to wage war on narco-terrorist organisations,” Rubio said. Trump said on Tuesday, without providing evidence, that the US military had identified the crew of the vessel as members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Washington designated a terrorist group in February. On Wednesday, he told reporters in the Oval Office that “massive amounts of drugs” were found on the boat. “We have tapes of them speaking,” said Trump. “It was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people. And everybody fully understands that. In fact you see it, you see the bags of drugs all over the boat,” Trump said. The Pentagon has not released specifics about the crew nor why it chose to kill those on board. Presidents of both major US parties have in the past asserted the authority to use the military for limited strikes when there is a threat to the United States, as Trump did in June when he ordered an attack on Iran. Rubio said that “a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl” was an immediate threat to the United States, adding that Trump had the right to “eliminate (it) under exigent circumstances”. Mary Ellen O’Connell, an expert on international law and the use of force at the University of Notre Dame, said Tuesday’s operation “violated fundamental principles of international law”. “The alleged fact that the attack was on the high seas is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the US had no right to intentionally kill these suspects,” she said. The decision to blow up a suspected drug vessel passing through the Caribbean, instead of seizing the vessel and apprehending its crew, was highly unusual and evoked memories of the US fight against militant groups such as al-Qaeda. The United States has deployed warships in the southern Caribbean in recent weeks, with the aim of following through on a pledge by Trump to crack down on drug cartels. Seven US warships and one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are either in the region or expected to be there soon, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines. US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico. Asked about Venezuela’s close relationship with China, Hegseth took aim at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The only person that should be worried is Nicolas Maduro, who is … effectively a kingpin of a drug narco state,” Hegseth said. The Trump administration last month doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro to US$50 million, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups. Venezuelan officials have said the Caribbean buildup is meant to justify an intervention against them, with Maduro accusing Trump of seeking “regime change”. In an interview with Fox Noticias on Wednesday, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado supported the US strike, saying the operation was “aimed at saving lives” in Venezuela and the United States. Authorities in the South American country, who say Tren de Aragua was no longer active there after being dismantled during a prison raid in 2023, suggested on Tuesday that footage shared by Trump of a speedboat at sea exploding and then burning was created with artificial intelligence. The strike prompted an outcry from Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who said on social media site X that the US action could be viewed as murder, saying there is a long tradition of capturing drug smugglers. He said those using such vessels tend to be poor youth, not cartel leaders. “If this is true, it is a murder anywhere in the world,” Petro wrote. “We have been capturing civilians who transport drugs for decades without killing them.” But others were in favour. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, backed the move, saying “I have no sympathy for traffickers - the US military should kill them all violently”. Additional reporting by Bloomberg

US says more operations against cartels coming after strike on Venezuela boat

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hegseth and Rubio deliver warning to cartels after US strike kills 11 on Venezuelan vessel allegedly carrying narcotics

Hegseth and Rubio deliver warning to cartels after US strike kills 11 on Venezuelan vessel allegedly carrying narcotics