National Defense

Trump Announces US Obliterated Another Narco Vessel

(Screenshot / Truth Social)

The U.S. struck another cartel vessel amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown against Latin American drug cartels, the president announced on Truth Social Monday evening.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) carried out another strike on an identified narco vessel transporting drugs from Venezuela in international waters, killing the three men aboard, the president announced. The strike marks the second U.S. strike in the region after Trump authorized the military to target Latin American drug cartels and the military deployed multiple assets to the Caribbean.

“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,” Trump said in his post. “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.” (RELATED: ‘Literally Blown To Bits’: JD Vance Issues Warning To Drug Cartels ‘Trying To Kill Our Citizens’)

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also shared the news in a post on X.

Narco-terrorists are enemies of the United States — actively bringing death to our shores.

We will stop at nothing to defend our homeland and our citizens.

We will track them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere — at the times and places of our… https://t.co/abOWXe2afE

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) September 15, 2025

Latin American cartels are a large contributor to fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.,  a potent opioid which kills thousands of Americans a year from overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Venezuela hosts a slew of drug cartels, including Tren de Aragua, which originated in a prison in the nation and entered the U.S. in greater numbers under the Biden administration.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro made thinly veiled threats against America in response to U.S. deployments in late August and early September. Maduro said in August that he would defend “[our] seas, our skies and our lands” and also called the deployment an “outlandish, bizarre threat of a declining empire.”

“BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!” Trump said in his post. “The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER.”

The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.