On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the United States had launched its third fatal military strike this month on a vessel accused of transporting narcotics in the Caribbean, intensifying a campaign that has drawn both praise and criticism at home and abroad. The strike, which Trump revealed in a post on his Truth Social platform, targeted a boat he described as “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.” The president stated that three people—whom he called "narcoterrorists"—were killed in the attack, and no American personnel were harmed.
“On my Orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote, as reported by CNN and NPR. He added, “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans.” The president accompanied his announcement with a video showing a small boat being struck from above and engulfed in flames, a now-familiar image after a month of similar operations.
This latest strike is part of an escalated U.S. military campaign in the region, one that began in earnest in August when the Navy deployed a formidable flotilla to the southern Caribbean. According to Task & Purpose, the deployment includes several destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser, a three-ship amphibious ready group carrying the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, a fast-attack submarine, and ten F-35 fighter jets forward deployed to Puerto Rico. The island is also serving as a base for MQ-9 Reaper drones, further amplifying the U.S. surveillance and strike capability in the area.
September has seen three fatal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels, with a total of 17 people killed, according to White House figures. The first, on September 2, targeted a fast-moving Venezuelan boat and killed 11 people. The U.S. government claimed the crew belonged to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, which had been designated a foreign terrorist organization earlier in the year. Venezuela’s government, led by President Nicolás Maduro, flatly denied the accusation and called the U.S. video evidence “fabricated.”
The second strike, on September 15, killed three more people on a boat allegedly transporting illegal narcotics from Venezuela. Video from that incident showed the boat stationary in the water before it was destroyed. In all three cases, the White House has accused the vessels' crews of being “narco-terrorists” linked to cartels, and emphasized that the strikes were conducted in international waters along known trafficking routes.
Trump’s administration has justified the use of military force by pointing to its earlier designation of several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that expanded the legal framework for counterterrorism operations. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, when pressed for details after the first strike, said the U.S. had “the absolute and complete authority to conduct that.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a trip to Mexico and Ecuador, declared that the U.S. would “wage combat against drug cartels that are flooding American streets and killing Americans.”
Despite these justifications, the strikes have ignited debate in Washington and beyond. Some U.S. senators, including Democrats and a few Republicans, have questioned whether the administration is overstepping its authority by using the military for what are traditionally law enforcement actions. “There is no evidence – none – that this strike was conducted in self-defense,” said Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in remarks quoted by CNN. “That matters, because under both domestic and international law, the US military simply does not have the authority to use lethal force against a civilian vessel unless acting in self-defense.”
Human rights groups have echoed these concerns, warning that the precedent of military action against suspected traffickers—without clear evidence or judicial process—could undermine the rule of law and risk civilian casualties. The Trump administration has so far provided limited details about how it verifies the alleged affiliations and cargo of targeted vessels. National security officials told Congress that the first boat was fired on multiple times after it changed course and appeared to head back toward shore, but did not specify what intelligence led to the assessment that those aboard were members of Tren de Aragua.
For its part, Venezuela has responded with anger and suspicion. President Maduro, who has frequently clashed with Washington, accused the Trump administration of using drug trafficking accusations as a pretext for military operations aimed at intimidating his government and seeking regime change. “Their intentions are to intimidate and seek regime change,” Maduro said this week, as reported by NPR. He also dismissed U.S. video evidence as artificial and questioned whether such small boats could even operate in open international waters.
The U.S. military buildup in the region has not gone unnoticed by Venezuela’s armed forces. After the first strike, Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets reportedly flew near the USS Jason Dunham, a U.S. Navy destroyer, in what appeared to be a show of force. The destroyer later boarded and searched a Venezuelan fishing boat for drugs but found nothing, according to Task & Purpose.
Meanwhile, Trump has maintained a combative tone, urging traffickers to “STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!” as he posted on Truth Social. He has also claimed that “proof” of the boats’ criminal cargo was visible in the aftermath of the strikes: “All you have to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all over the ocean, big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place.” However, independent verification of these claims has not been made public, and the administration has not released conclusive evidence to corroborate the affiliations or cargo of the destroyed vessels.
The operations mark a dramatic shift in U.S. strategy against drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. Traditionally, interdiction efforts have been led by law enforcement agencies such as the Coast Guard, often in coordination with regional partners. The use of military force, particularly lethal strikes, raises questions about the future of U.S. engagement in the region and the potential for escalation with countries like Venezuela.
As the United States ramps up its presence and operations in the Caribbean, the world watches to see whether this new approach will stem the flow of drugs—or simply inflame tensions and legal controversies. The coming weeks may reveal more about the administration’s intentions and the long-term impact of this unprecedented campaign.
