‘WE ARE HUNTING YOU!’ Trump Claims U.S. Military Killed Three More ‘Confirmed Narcoterrorists from Venezuela’

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered a second military strike on a Venezuelan boat on Monday, claiming that the vessel was carrying “confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela.”

The strike follows another one earlier this month in which the U.S. struck a boat that the Trump administration says was smuggling drugs, killing 11 people on board. The strike was criticized for lacking legal authority, as it represented a sharp departure from past practices to interdict suspected drug trafficking boats and arrest the occupants, and the Venezuelan government denied the boat occupants were drug traffickers or gang members. The criticism increased after The New York Times reported that the boat “had altered its course and appeared to have turned around before the attack started.”

Regarding this new strike, Trump described the strike as targeting “positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the U.S. Southern Command responsible for the command and control of American military forces in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

According to Trump, the boat was traveling from Venezuela to the U.S., in international waters, was “transporting illegal narcotics,” and three male “terrorists” were killed in the strike. No U.S. service members were harmed.

The president added a warning to those who are “TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS,” writing “WE ARE HUNTING YOU!”

Trump’s post read:

This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike. BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!

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