Image Credit: The White House 
A vessel transporting drugs and terrorists from Venezuela was obliterated by the U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, President Trump has revealed.
“We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,” the President announced during a press conference in the Oval Office.
“And you’ll be seeing that, and you’ll be reading about that. It just happened moments ago.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the operational success in a statement shortly after.
“As [POTUS] just announced moments ago, today the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Carribean against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization,” Rubio explained in a statement on social media.
Hours later, President Trump released footage and additional details of the strike.
“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. 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,” the President stated.
“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 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!”
Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have been escalating.
Seven U.S. warships and a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are reportedly already patrolling the Southern Caribbean or will be soon, along with more than 4,500 sailors and marines.
These forces are in place to “combat and dismantle drug trafficking organizations, criminal cartels and these foreign terrorist organizations in our hemisphere,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller stated on Friday.
The Maduro regime claims the U.S. presence in the region is a direct threat and could signal military conflict in the near future.
“Venezuelans know who is behind these military threats by the United States against our country,” Venezuela’s Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said last week.
“We are not drug traffickers, we are noble and hard-working people.”
