Trump says US struck another ‘drug smuggling vessel’, killing three

This screen grab from a video posted by US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account shows what he says is US military forces conducting a strike on a boat carrying alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea on September 15, 2025. (US President Donald Trump's Truth Social account/AFP)

President Donald Trump has said the US military carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month.

Trump said in a social media posting on Friday that the strike killed three and was carried out against a vessel "affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organisation conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM (United States Southern Command) area of responsibility."

He did not provide more precise details about the location of the strike.

The US twice this month carried out strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels that had originated from Venezuela.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, of leading a drug cartel and has announced a $50 million reward for his capture.

Maduro accuses the Trump administration of planning an invasion in pursuit of regime change.

Venezuela demands UN investigation

Venezuela says it has begun military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to US military activity in the region.

The US boat attack has been referred to as "extrajudicial execution" by UN experts.

Asked (a few days ago) what proof the US has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump replied, "We have proof. All you have to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all over the ocean — big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place."

Venezuela has said it would seek a United Nations probe of US strikes that killed 14 alleged drug traffickers on at least two boats in international waters off its coast.

"The use of missiles and nuclear weapons to murder defenseless fishermen on a small boat are crimes against humanity that must be investigated by the United Nations," Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a statement on Friday.

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Source: TRT