US Forces Destroy Small ‘Venezuelan’ Boat Allegedly Carrying Drugs—11 Killed
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that US troops deployed to the Caribbean attacked and destroyed a “drug ship” that had left Venezuela.
“Just a few minutes ago, literally, we shot down a vessel that was carrying drugs, a large amount of drugs. You’ll see it and read about it. It just happened moments ago,” the US president said at a press conference in the Oval Office.
He said he had just been briefed on the matter by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel “Razin” Caine. “We have a lot of drugs coming into our country, coming in for a long time, and they just came out of Venezuela… A lot of things are coming out of Venezuela, so we got rid of them,” Trump said.
Official account and unanswered questions
The US Department of Defense Rapid Response X account posted Donald Trump’s statement from Truth Social: “Earlier this morning, on my orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua (TdA) narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TdA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro [sic], responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere. The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike.”
Following Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the action a “lethal attack.” He said the “drug ship” had departed from Venezuela and “was being operated by a narcoterrorist organization.”
Neither Rubio nor the president offered details on where exactly the attack occurred, how it was determined that the vessel came from Venezuelan territory, or what procedure was used to identify the cartel in charge of the transfer. No tracking data or intelligence reports were immediately provided to support the claim.
This would be the first attack by US forces since they were deployed to the southern Caribbean Sea to allegedly combat drug trafficking.
A narrative without support?
The US official account has been met with skepticism from analysts and media. A low-quality video released by the US Defense Department shows a small boat at high speed before being struck and set ablaze. Some social media users and analysts questioned the operation’s veracity, noting the boat’s small size and suggesting it could only carry a minuscule amount of drugs compared to the US demand for narcotics.
In a social media post, Venezuelan news outlet Venezuelanalysis speculated on how US SOUTHCOM knew the small boat was carrying drugs without carrying out an inspection. The editor of Orinoco Tribune, when consulted, questioned how US forces could have known that any narcotics on board (if there were any) were the property of the Tren de Aragua gang; how they could have been certain that the boat was heading to the US, hundreds of miles away; and how a country can strike boats at sea without judicial procedure. “There is certainly a breach of international law,” he added, while noting that a detailed inspection of the video footage only shows at most seven people aboard of the boat.
Tren de Aragua is a virtually defunct Venezuelan criminal gang infamous for extortion, kidnapping, and human trafficking. Drug trafficking was never a strength of this criminal organization, although it may have carried out narcotics deals on a small scale.
On social media, many are wondering if the 11 individuals were innocent people, possibly migrants. If so, this would constitute yet another US “false-positive” operation and add to the long list of human rights violations and breaches of international law carried out by the US.
Regional tensions escalate
Tensions between Caracas and Washington have escalated since last August, when US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced an increase from US $25 million to US $50 million for information leading to the “capture” of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. She accuses him, without public evidence, of leading several international drug trafficking organizations. Currently, the Venezuelan president is being accused by the US government of leading Tren de Aragua, the Cartel of the Suns, and even the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel.
These accusations have been denied by Venezuelan authorities and by various countries. Reports from organizations such as the United Nations (UN) present Venezuela as a country free of illicit crops, with only 5% of the cocaine produced in Colombia passing through it. According to UN reports, the majority (87%) of drugs traveling from South America to North America do so across the Pacific Ocean, which is not connected to the Caribbean Sea, where Venezuela’s entire oceanic coastline is found.
In this regard, Pino Arlacchi, a former United Nations under-secretary-general and expert on organized crime, published an article questioning the US military deployment against Venezuela. He called it a veiled regime-change operation lacking support and aimed at Venezuelan oil reserves.
Amid the tensions over the US military deployment, President Maduro stated on Monday, September 1, that his country “is facing the greatest threat” of the last century. He said Washington has deployed eight military ships, a nuclear submarine, and 1,200 missiles aimed at Venezuelan soil.
According to mainstream media reports, the US squadron includes the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima and the ships USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale, with about 4,500 military personnel on board. Other ships, including the destroyers USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Sampson, as well as the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Erie, are reportedly heading toward Venezuelan waters.
Maduro warned that “if Venezuela were attacked, it would immediately enter a period of armed struggle in defense of the national territory and the history and people of Venezuela.” He said the country would “constitutionally declare a Republic in arms.”
Additionally, at an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Foreign Minister Yván Gil demanded “the immediate withdrawal of US military assets from the Caribbean Sea,” calling it an unprecedented situation only comparable to the missile crisis of the 1960s.
There has not yet been an immediate official reaction from Venezuelan authorities to Tuesday’s boat incident.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SL