Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Suspected Drug Boat in International Waters

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had ordered a "lethal kinetic strike" on a vessel in international waters that was allegedly trafficking illicit narcotics for a designated terrorist organization, resulting in the deaths of three individuals. The operation marks the third time this month the U.S. military has used deadly force against suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean, escalating a campaign that treats narcotrafficking as an act of war rather than a law enforcement matter.

In a dramatic evening post on his Truth Social platform, President Trump declared the strike a successful blow against narco-terrorism. "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," the president wrote.

He accompanied the post with a one-minute surveillance video showing the moment a speedboat was struck by a projectile and engulfed in a fiery explosion. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans," he added.

The announcement was framed as a direct warning, concluding with an all-caps admonition: "STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!" 

The New York Times reported that while Trump described the three deceased as "narcoterrorists," he did not provide further details about their nationality or the specific criminal organization they were allegedly affiliated with.

This latest strike is the continuation of a widening military operation that began in early September. As previously reported by Kurdistan24, the first "kinetic strike" on September 2 obliterated a vessel operated by suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua narco-terrorist organization, killing 11 people.

This was followed by a second strike on September 16, also announced by Trump, which killed three Venezuelans aboard another boat. Friday's operation, which also occurred in international waters with no harm to U.S. forces, signals the administration's intent to maintain and intensify this aggressive posture.

The administration’s policy is rooted in a strategic shift that began earlier this year with the designation of several Latin American drug cartels, including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

This reclassification, a significant break from precedent, provides the legal framework—at least in the administration's view—for treating these criminal enterprises as military adversaries. According to The New York Times, this policy was further solidified in July when President Trump signed a still-secret order directing the military to begin using armed force against such groups.

The legal and ethical implications of this campaign have drawn swift and fierce condemnation from a wide range of legal experts, human rights organizations, and Democratic lawmakers.

The New York Times noted that specialists in both domestic and international law have argued that President Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, are issuing illegal orders that cause Special Operations forces to deliberately target civilians in violation of murder laws.

Traditionally, drug smuggling in the Caribbean has been handled by the Coast Guard and Navy as a law enforcement issue, involving interdiction and prosecution, not summary execution.

Amnesty International USA, responding to the second strike, described the operation as a possible "extrajudicial execution," stating there was "absolutely no legal justification" for it.

This sentiment was echoed by congressional Democrats. Moments after Friday’s announcement, Senator Adam Schiff of California, who is pushing a war-powers measure to halt the operations, issued a statement warning that "Blowing up boats in the Caribbean without any legal authority risks dragging the United States into another war, and provoking attacks against American citizens."

The Trump administration has remained defiant in the face of this criticism, arguing that the strikes are a lawful and necessary act of national self-defense. A senior administration official, speaking to Fox News about a previous strike, framed the action as part of an effort to end a "brutal war, which was brought on by Joe Biden’s incompetence."

Officials have repeatedly and directly linked the cartels to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In July, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the "Cartel de los Soles" (Cartel of the Suns), a group it described as being headed by Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials who provide material support to FTOs like Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel. "Today’s action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime’s facilitation of narco-terrorism," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement at the time.

The administration’s rhetoric has consistently portrayed Maduro not as a head of state but as the leader of a criminal enterprise. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has referred to "narco-terror cartels" operating under Maduro, and in a recent interview with Fox News, vowed, “We’re not going to have a cartel, masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere.”

Maduro, who was indicted in New York on narco-terrorism charges in 2020, has denounced the U.S. operations as pretexts for "regime change."

To further codify its authority, the administration has reportedly been circulating a draft bill within the executive branch and Congress that would grant the president sweeping legal authorization to use military force against individuals, groups, and nations deemed to be linked to narcotrafficking.

According to The New York Times, it remains unclear whether the measure could pass the Republican-controlled Congress.

The military campaign has been accompanied by a significant naval buildup in the southern Caribbean, including the deployment of guided-missile destroyers, which has drawn criticism from China as a violation of the UN Charter.

President Trump, however, appears determined to press forward, telling reporters after the second strike that he had been shown video footage by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, which showed "big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place."

This trio of lethal strikes represents a visceral and unambiguous fulfillment of President Trump’s pledge to bring the "full power of America" against drug traffickers. However, the operations also push the United States into uncharted legal territory, raising profound questions about the laws of war, executive authority, and the potential for a wider, and potentially unintended, conflict in America's near abroad.