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Hegseth To Narco-Terrorists: "Assets Gathering In Region" After Drug-Boat Blown Apart In Missile Strike

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by Tyler Durden
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Update (Wednesday Morning): 

In a Fox News interview, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this morning that Tuesday's military action against a drug-laden boat that departed Venezuela killed 11 Tren de Aragua militants, warning that this is "just the beginning."

Hegseth explained that the military action to disrupt the command and control nodes of the Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists won't stop there.

He warned that President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela faces some tough decisions. 

Yesterday's kinetic strike against narcoterrorists transporting illegal drugs is a force posture maneuver by the U.S. military, positioning warships in the Caribbean Sea area in recent weeks, while Maduro stages war drills. 

Here is the latest reporting and sequence of events to understand:

Maduro responded:

Besides disrupting narcoterrorist drug supply sides, the U.S./Exxon might find this very appealing...

And so it begins: Western Hemisphere defense.

A reminder: the drug catastrophe kills 100,000 Americans every year, many of them working-age men and women, i.e., military-aged. In other words, the fentanyl crisis is seen by some in the national security world as a "reverse Opium War," and by others as irregular warfare waged by foreign nation-states. And you don't need to think too hard about where the fentanyl precursor chemicals are coming from…

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Update (1831ET): More details of the military action against an allegedly drug-laden boat that departed Venezuela have been revealed by President Trump in a Truth Social post:

"Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," Trump said. "The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action."

A sizeable U.S. armada currently sits afloat in the waters where the strike occurred. Four destroyers carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 4,500 Marines and sailors are deployed in the area.

Eleven deaths in the US military action in the south Caribbean is quite significant, and if they are found to be Venezuelan citizens, it will certainly raise tensions much higher with Caracas. Trump has released footage of the strike:

As for President Maduro, he alleged on Monday that Trump is "seeking regime change through military threat." As for the US claim that these slain narco-"terrorists" were directly under Maduro or were state-linked, this is still anything but proven. In fact, there could be evidence to the contrary...

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Geopolitical fireworks have erupted in the Caribbean amid the tense showdown that's ensued with US Navy warships moving into the region with an eye on Maduro's Venezuela. Maduro has in the last days been engaged in his own 'show of force' - sending extra troops into Venezuelan border areas.

The White House has confirmed Tuesday that the US military carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that earlier departed Venezuela's coast. President Trump announced the surprise development from the Oval Office: “When you leave the room, you’ll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally, shot a boat - a drug-carrying boat," he told reporters, describing that there were “a lot of drugs" on the vessel.

Illustrative US Navy image

Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately announced on X that the vessel was being operated by a "designated narco-terrorist organization" - calling it a lethal strike.

The ship had "departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization," Rubio wrote. The Pentagon has not offered any initial comment in the immediate strike aftermath, and few other details are known of the incident. According to newswires:

  • US CONDUCTED STRIKE AGAINST DRUG VESSEL FROM VENEZUELA
  • VENEZUELA BONDS HIT SESSION HIGH AFTER US DRUG BOAT STRIKE

Venezuela has clearly been back in Trump's crosshairs, after last month it was first reported that some eight US Navy vessels were en route to patrol Caribbean waters near Venezuela.

Trump will surely come under criticism from some sectors of his base, after he repeatedly promised to not start new wars. However, the administration is selling this fresh action and the naval deployment as part of drug enforcement.

Last Friday, Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, described that the fresh military build-up off Venezuela and in regional waters is to "combat and dismantle drug trafficking organizations, criminal cartels and these foreign terrorist organizations in our hemisphere."

Analysts have questioned just how a larger military presence will disrupt the drug trade, as opposed to conventional law enforcement mechanisms which have for decades been involved. According to a Reuters backgrounder:

Among other things, most of the seaborne drug trade travels to the United States via the Pacific, not the Atlantic, where the U.S. forces are, and much of what arrives via the Caribbean comes on clandestine flights.

Venezuelan officials believe their government might be the real target. In early August, the United States doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million over allegations of drug trafficking and links to criminal groups.

Maduro, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and the country's ambassador to the United Nations Samuel Moncada have said the U.S. is threatening the country with the naval deployments, in violation of international treaties. They have also scoffed at U.S. assertions that the country and its leadership are key to major international drug trafficking.

Venezuela's Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said last Friday: "Venezuelans know who is behind these military threats by the United States against our country." He emphasized, "We are not drug traffickers, we are noble and hard-working people."

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