President Trump introduced the second deadly strike by the U.S. navy as a part of the counter-drugs operations.
This can be a growing information, we are going to replace it as soon as new particulars can be found.
U.S. President Donald Trump introduced a brand new deadly strike in opposition to an alleged smuggling boat in worldwide waters within the Caribbean. As soon as once more, the boat was stated for use by Venezuelan cartels and resulted within the loss of life of the three folks on board.
Sharing the video on social media, the President stated the folks on board have been “positively recognized, terribly violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists.” He additionally warned traffickers, saying that whoever is transporting medication certain to the U.S. shall be hunted.
The boat seemed to be nonetheless on the water, with personnel transferring round. Few seconds later it was engulfed in flames, with the visible alternating between infrared and coloration cameras.
No particulars on the platform used to ship the assault or the kind of weapons employed have been launched. Nevertheless, the circumstances of the assault seem to match those of the primary assault on Sep. 2, 2025.
. @POTUS “This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Navy Forces performed a SECOND Kinetic Strike in opposition to positively recognized, terribly violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists within the SOUTHCOM space of accountability. The Strike occurred whereas these confirmed… pic.twitter.com/KQYiEpqsGb
— DOW Speedy Response (@DOWResponse) September 15, 2025
The weapon concerned could possibly be an AGM-114 Hellfire missile, though this will’t be confirmed. A number of platforms deployed to the world can make use of the missile, which was additionally seen put in on U.S. MQ-9 Reapers deployed to Puerto Rico.
Context: the Strike that Modified Posture
The brand new strikes comes shortly after the deployment of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters to Puerto Rico, which landed at Roosevelt Roads naval advanced in Ceiba. The jets joined a broader and visibly expanded U.S. navy posture within the Caribbean that U.S. officers tie to counter-drug operations.
The information in regards to the F-35’s deployment was first publicized on Sept. 5, 2025, as a consequence of the flight of two Venezuelan F-16s close to a U.S. vessel. Hours after the announcement, Venezuelan jets flew a second time over a U.S. warship, recognized as the usJason Dunham, which was reportedly the identical which skilled the interplay with Venezuelan F-16s the day earlier.
The overflights themselves have been a consequence of the deadly strike in opposition to a suspected Venezuelan drug vessel within the southern Caribbean, carried out by the U.S. navy on Sep. 2, 2025. This was the primary recognized use of direct navy power in opposition to a drug cartel’s maritime operations for the reason that deployment of extra U.S. warships to the area.
As we reported, the strike provoked questions on legality and proportionality, withs authorized and human-rights considerations raised by students and a few members of Congress, who questioned whether or not deadly power in worldwide waters was in line with worldwide legislation and conventional interdiction observe. Critics additionally level out the bizarre nature of utilizing high-end airpower for maritime drug interdiction when legislation enforcement boarding and seizure have traditionally been the norm.
Regional sign and escalation threat
U.S. officers body the deployments primarily as counter-narcotics operations designed to disrupt maritime trafficking and defend U.S. forces and vessels working in worldwide waters. Nonetheless, the dimensions and visibility of the buildup—a mixture of floor combatants, submarine property, hundreds of Marines and new airpower—have been interpreted by some observers as a broader sign to Caracas.
Caracas has accused Washington of utilizing counter-narcotics as a pretext for stress or regime change. The latter maintains that the aim of the operation is to cease the downpour of medicine within the U.S. cities, though the Trump administration has additionally doubled its bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of supporting drug trafficking and felony networks, in line with Reuters and CNN.
That atmosphere, nevertheless, elevates the chance calculus, as there may be the potential for miscalculation throughout shut maneuvers at sea and the political sensitivity of strikes or shoot-downs. President Trump’s public feedback warning that Venezuelan plane could possibly be shot down in the event that they positioned U.S. ships “in a harmful place” sign that the state of affairs may change into tense at any level in future if occasions are misjudged.
