Washington, October 14, 2025 – President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces conducted a lethal strike on a vessel in international waters near Venezuela’s coast, killing six men described as “narcoterrorists” linked to drug trafficking networks. The operation, ordered under Trump’s authority as Commander-in-Chief, targeted a boat affiliated with a designated terrorist organization, according to a Pentagon statement confirming the deaths with no U.S. casualties.
In a Truth Social post accompanied by aerial footage of the boat erupting in flames, Trump stated: “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and transiting a known DTO route.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth executed the “kinetic strike,” the fifth such action since September that has claimed 21 lives overall, amid a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean including F-35 jets, warships, and a nuclear submarine.
Trump emphasized: “America will not sit idly by against activities undermining our national security—we will act decisively against all such elements.” The administration frames these as part of an “armed conflict” with cartels like Tren de Aragua, designated foreign terrorist organizations in February, justifying military action without congressional approval.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro decried it as a “heinous crime” against civilians, accusing the U.S. of fabricating drug claims to orchestrate regime change, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López warning of escalation and urging national preparedness. The UN condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial executions,” while U.S. Democrats like Sens. Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff criticized the lack of evidence and oversight; a Senate bid to halt them failed last week.
As tensions simmer—with a $50 million bounty on Maduro—the blitz risks broader confrontation, testing legal boundaries in the fight against fentanyl flows.
