In a fiery declaration on September 3, Secretary Rubio said the United States is now treating Venezuelan drug traffickers as enemy combatants. Referring to the deadly U.S. strike on a suspected cartel vessel in the Caribbean, Rubio stated, “On the president’s orders, we blew it up. And it will happen again.”
On September 2, the U.S. Navy carried out a targeted strike on a boat operated by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which is now classified as a narco-terrorist group. Eleven suspected cartel members were killed in the operation. The military released drone footage of the strike, and Rubio confirmed that the mission had full authorization from the White House.
“It’s a war on killers. It’s a war on terror. These are not narco-traffickers, these are narco-terrorists who terrorize the countries they operate in,” Rubio shared.
Rubio explained that traditional interdiction efforts, such as seizing smuggled drugs, have failed to curb trafficking and violence. “The United States has long — for many, many years — established intelligence that allowed us to interdict and stop drug boats. And we did that. And it doesn’t work. Interdiction doesn’t work… What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” Rubio shared from the press conference in Mexico City.
Rubio emphasized that additional strikes are planned, and U.S. forces would not hesitate to engage traffickers in international waters.
Military assets, including destroyers and Marine units, have been deployed to Caribbean waters near Venezuela. This show of force supports President Trump’s broader campaign to dismantle foreign drug networks with direct and sustained military pressure.
