New U.S. strike kills 6 on suspected drug vessel off Venezuela

Six people were killed in a new U.S. military strike on an alleged drug vessel off the coast of Venezuela, according to President Trump.

In a post on social media, Trump said the strike was ordered on Tuesday “under my standing authorities as Commander-in-Chief” and targeted a ship affiliated with a designated terrorist organization conducting narcotrafficking in international waters off the coast of Venezuela.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” Trump said.

The strike, carried out under the oversight of the Department of War, killed six men described by Trump as “narcoterrorists.” No U.S. forces were injured in the operation.

The latest strike brings the total number of people killed in U.S. attacks on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and near Venezuela to at least 25 since early September. Five such operations have been publicly confirmed.

Trump has described the campaign as part of an expanded effort to target narcoterrorist networks linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua organization, which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist group.

Trump previously said U.S. forces had “blown the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water” and suggested that future operations could move from sea to land as traffickers change their routes.