The United States military has carried out its third strike this month on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people aboard and bringing the total death toll in the new interdiction campaign to 17.

President Donald Trump announced the latest attack on Friday through his social media platform Truth Social, describing those killed as “male narcoterrorists.”

Trump said the vessel was operating in international waters under the jurisdiction of U.S. Southern Command. A one-minute surveillance video posted by him showed the speedboat being blown apart.

According to his statement, intelligence confirmed that the boat was transporting narcotics along a known trafficking corridor “en route to poison Americans.” No U.S. personnel were injured in the operation.

The previous two strikes took place earlier this month. On September 2, Trump announced that the military destroyed a boat he linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, killing 11 people.

A second attack on September 15 killed three more individuals described as Venezuelans. All three strikes were carried out by drone operators working under U.S. Special Operations Command, without boarding attempts or arrests.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic confirmed they cooperated with U.S. forces after Friday’s strike. The Dominican Navy and the National Drug Control Directorate reported seizing 377 packages of cocaine about 80 nautical miles south of Beata Island, closer to Dominican territory than Venezuelan shores.

Experts in U.S. and international law have warned that President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may be issuing illegal orders by targeting civilians suspected of crimes without trial. Pentagon lawyers are reportedly worried that U.S. military personnel could face personal legal consequences if courts later rule the strikes were unlawful.

The current Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), passed in 2001, only applies to Al-Qaeda and groups linked to the 9/11 attacks. Retired Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers argue it does not apply to drug traffickers, even if the administration designates them as “foreign terrorist organisations.”

Senator Adam Schiff of California said that “blowing up boats in the Caribbean without any legal authority risks dragging the United States into another war, and provoking attacks against American citizens.”

Local residents told reporters that some fishermen take occasional jobs smuggling cocaine or people because of poverty and depleted fish stocks. Smuggling boats usually have several high-powered outboard engines, unlike normal fishing vessels. But even fishermen not involved in trafficking now say they are afraid to go to sea.

“I’m afraid to go fishing because of the situation they’re doing to us,” one fisherman, José Machado, told Telemundo, explaining that locals only want to earn their daily bread. Venezuelan officials have imposed a ban on fishing more than 30 miles off the northern Paria Peninsula, and the country’s military has pledged to protect fishing interests.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has rejected U.S. claims that those killed in the first strike were members of the Tren de Aragua gang. He accused Washington of spreading disinformation to justify escalating tensions and pushing for regime change.

At the same time, Maduro offered direct talks with the U.S. In a letter dated September 6, four days after the first strike, he said only about five percent of Colombian drugs move through Venezuela, and that Venezuelan forces stop 70 percent of that flow. He called for “direct and frank” discussions with U.S. envoy Richard Grenell, noting Grenell’s past role in resolving disputes over migrant returns.

Reference: nytimes

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