Donald Trump. Photo credit: CNP / ADM / Capital Pictures / Profimedia
The American armed forces attacked a vessel carrying drugs on Tuesday, in the Caribbean Sea, in the first operation known by the kind of Trump administration to increase the number of US war vessels in the region, reports Reuters.
“In the last few minutes, I actually pulled on a boat, a drug that transports drugs, a lot of drugs in that boat,” Trump told the reporters present at the White House.
“And there are others where they came from. We have a lot of a drug that enters our country, they come for a long time (…). They came from Venezuela,” added the US president, mentioning that the Pentagon will provide other details.
The US has been carrying war vessels in the south of the Caribbean Sea, as part of the efforts made by the Trump administration to combat drug cards.
Tuesday's attack seems to be the first military operation of its kind in the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the target boat was operated on by a drug trafficking group that Washington was declared a terrorist organization.
“The American army made a lethal attack in the south of the Caribbean against a drug boat that had left Venezuela and was operated on by an organization designated narcoterist,” Rubio said in a post on X.
Although Rubio spoke about “a lethal attack”, the Trump administration has not reported victims for the operation.
Significant unfolding of American forces in the region
Seven American war vessels and a rapid nuclear propulsion submarine either are already in the region, or it is believed to be there soon, they are in the region, bringing with over 4,500 sailors and marines.
Although the ships of the Coast Guard and the US Navy operate regularly in the south of the Caribbean, the current number of detachments exceeds the usual conduct in the region.
USS San Antonio, USS IWO Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale are included in the naval force. Some can carry helicopters, while others can also carry Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The US Army has sent P-8 spy aircraft to gather information, American officials said. They flew above the international waters.
On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the US on Monday of producing “the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years”, in the form of “eight military vessels with 1,200 missiles and a submarine targeting Venezuela,” according to AFP.
