Shafaq News – Washington

US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that American forces conducted a second strike against “extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists” operating in international waters near Venezuela.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump said the operation targeted a vessel carrying narcotics bound for the US, killing three men identified as traffickers. He vowed continued pressure on Latin American cartels for their “DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES” on US communities.

The announcement came hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused Washington, in a press conference, of plotting “military aggression,” warning that Venezuela would respond under international law and noting that diplomatic ties remain severed.

Tensions have spiked since August 2025, when Trump deployed naval forces to the Caribbean to counter transnational trafficking. On September 3, he revealed an earlier strike on a separate vessel allegedly transporting members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, killing 11.

Caracas dismissed the account, calling it a cover for extrajudicial killings. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello denounced the US version as a “massive lie,” claiming the victims were missing civilians from a coastal region with no ties to organized crime.