President Donald Trump announced on October 14, 2025, that the US military conducted a lethal strike on a drug-trafficking vessel in international waters off Venezuela's coast, killing six men aboard. The action targeted a boat linked to a designated terrorist organization involved in narcotics trafficking. This marks the fifth such strike since September amid escalating US efforts against regional cartels.
On Tuesday morning, October 14, 2025, the US Department of War ordered a kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a designated terrorist organization (DTO) in the US Southern Command area, just off Venezuela's coast. President Trump detailed the operation in a Truth Social post, stating: "Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route." He added that the strike occurred in international waters, killing six male narcoterrorists with no harm to US forces.
Footage released showed a flash of light striking the small boat, causing it to burst into flames. This incident follows four prior fatal strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean since September, bringing the total to five operations that have killed 27 suspected terrorists. The actions stem from an August deployment of US troops and assets to the South Caribbean to counter threats from narco-terrorist groups. A White House memo on September 30 declared the US in a "non-international armed conflict" with these organizations, justifying force as self-defense: "The President determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations... we must use force in self-defense and defense of others against the ongoing attacks."
On Friday prior, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the Southern Command area, aimed to "crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe." Hegseth emphasized on X: "The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold."
Criticism has mounted from Democrats in Congress. Senators Adam Schiff and Tim Kaine introduced a war powers resolution in September to halt hostilities against non-state actors, arguing it lacks congressional authorization. Schiff stated: "There has been no authorization to use force by Congress in this way... I feel it is plainly unconstitutional." The measure failed in the Senate 51-48 on Wednesday, with Republicans Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski joining Democrats in support.
Trump defended the strategy, telling reporters Venezuela is "a big purveyor of drugs" and accusing it of exporting criminals to the US. In a September 30 address to military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, he said: "We have to put the traffickers and cartels on notice... If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence... That's why you don't see any more boats in the ocean."
Venezuela condemned the strikes, with President Nicolás Maduro calling them "a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country," part of a US push for regime change. Venezuelan UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada requested an emergency Security Council session on Thursday, claiming the actions advance long-standing US regime-change policies to seize resources. The Trump administration does not recognize Maduro as legitimate, viewing him as a drug cartel leader.
Former DEA official Wes Tabor, who led operations in Caracas in 2012, noted the administration is "squeezing" cartels, with their "permissive environment... evaporating."