President Trump shared dramatic footage of the US military obliterating a boat carrying drugs and Tren de Aragua gangbangers off the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday.
The video showed the small boat being blown out of international waters and exploding into flames after it was struck by a single missile, killing all onboard.
Trump said the boat was occupied by 11 “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” and was en route to the US.
“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”
This is the first known attack on a cartel since Trump authorized the military to carry out such operations earlier this year.
The region is a major exporter of cocaine, but initial statements did not reveal the type of drug or drugs that the boat was carrying.
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Trump in late August deployed three guided-missile destroyers and about 4,000 Marines to the Venezuelan coast — prompting the country’s authoritarian left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro to mobilize millions of militia members and claim an invasion was imminent
The Trump administration has branded the Cuba-aligned strongman, in power since 2013, as a drug cartel leader and fugitive from justice.
The US government in early August offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
On Monday, Maduro accused the US of seeking a regime change in his country amid a naval buildup in the Caribbean.
“They are seeking a regime change through military threat,” Maduro told journalists, officials and uniformed military brass in Caracas, echoing comments last week by his government’s representative at the United Nations.
“Venezuela is confronting the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years,” Maduro said. “A situation like this has never been seen.”
Maduro said Venezuela was “super prepared” and would not bow to threats from the United States.
“Maduro’s reign of terror is ending,” a source close to the administration told The Post Tuesday in response to the strike.
“And President Trump’s historic mission to secure the Western Hemisphere is just getting started.”
