Trump orders 'lethal kinetic strike' on alleged drug trafficking boat in international waters, three killed

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Friday that he ordered a lethal strike on a vessel allegedly linked to a designated terrorist organization “conducting narco-trafficking” in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility.

The strike, carried out on a vessel confirmed by intelligence to be trafficking illicit narcotics, left three narco-terrorists dead, Trump said in the post, along with a video showing the moment the boat was struck and became engulfed in flames.

“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 posted to his Truth Social account Friday evening. 

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans.”

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The strike took place in international waters, and no U.S. forces were harmed, he added.

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“The strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel, which was in international waters,” Trump said. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!”

The announcement came just days after Trump announced the U.S. military had carried out its second strike on Venezuelan cartels as the administration continues its crackdown.

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“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday. 

Earlier this month, a U.S. military strike blew apart a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean, leaving nearly a dozen suspected Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists dead.

In February, the Trump administration also designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and others as foreign terrorist organizations.