President Trump has coined a new term, “narcoterrorists”, to describe the people the US government struck down on their way from Venezuela on Friday. This strike marks the third of its kind this month.
Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social that “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage en route to poison Americans. The strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel, which was in international waters. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!”
Previously this month, the US military had shot two vessels, containing three and eleven people, respectively. These attacks come in the wake of the administration accusing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of being linked to ongoing drug trafficking out of Venezuela. President Maduro denies these claims and declared that the attacks are an “absolutely criminal and bloody threat.” He also stated that the video that Trump published of the first attacks was made by AI, claiming that the size of the boat depicted in the video was not able to travel to the destination.
The United States government worked in tandem with the Dominican Republic’s Navy to recover the substances aboard the ship. Official reports state that the boat was destroyed 80 miles away from the jurisdiction of the Dominican Republic, allowing them to cooperate with United States authorities to investigate the remains. In the ship, the Dominican Republic’s National Directorate for Drug Control reports they recovered 377 packages of cocaine, which translates to over 2,200 pounds on the seacraft. They further commented, “This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean.”
Previously this month, President Maduro wrote Trump a letter denying his involvement in drug trafficking. The letter was dated September 6th — a couple of days after the first military strikes — and urges Trump to stop these attacks. Maduro writes, “I respectfully invite you, President, to promote peace through constructive dialogue and mutual understanding throughout the hemisphere.”
Following these attacks, Democratic legislators have advocated for limiting the President’s authority to execute strikes of this kind. Two Democratic senators, Adam Schiff of California and Tim Kaine of Virginia, have filed a joint resolution urging the United States to halt unauthorized military usage of this kind. Senator Schiff said in a statement: “While we share with the executive branch the imperative of preventing and deterring drugs from reaching our shores, blowing up boats without any legal justification risks dragging the United States into another war and provoking unjustified hostilities against our own citizens. This unauthorized and illegal use of our military must stop.” Both senators have stated that they are in favor of stopping illegal drug trafficking into the United States, but claimed that this alone does not justify armed strikes.
President Trump has not responded with a legal justification for these attacks. When asked for the proof that these vessels contain illicit substances, 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.” President Trump has alluded that these attacks could branch out to land as well. He stated that the United States is seeing fewer vessels of this kind since the attacks; however, drug smuggling is still occurring on land. The president noted, “When they come by land we’re going to be stopping them the same way we stopped the boats. … But maybe by talking about it a little bit, it won’t happen. If it doesn’t happen that’s good.”
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