U.S. President Donald Trump said that the military attacked a drug-laden vessel from Venezuela in the Caribbean, the first known action since the Trump administration’s warship buildup in the region.
"We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
"And there's more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time ... These came out of Venezuela," Trump said. He said the Pentagon would soon be providing further details.
Asked to comment, a defense official confirmed the U.S. military conducted a "precision strike against a drug vessel" but declined to elaborate on how the attack was carried out, what kind of drugs were being targeted or who was on board.
The official only said the vessel was "operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization."
"More information will be made available at a later time," the official said.
The Venezuelan Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The United States has deployed warships in the southern Caribbean with the aim of following through on Trump's pledge to crack down on drug cartels.
Tuesday's strike appeared to be the first such military operation in the region to that effect. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a post on X, said the boat had departed from Venezuela and was struck in the southern Caribbean.
Although Rubio called it "a lethal strike," the Trump administration did not immediately confirm whether anyone was killed.
While U.S. Coast Guard and Navy ships regularly operate in the Southern Caribbean, the current buildup exceeds the usual deployments in the region.
In the naval force are warships, including USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima, and USS Fort Lauderdale. Some can carry aerial assets like helicopters, while others can also deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The U.S. military has also been flying P-8 spy planes in the region to gather intelligence, U.S. officials have said. They have been flying over international waters.
