US strikes second ‘narco-terrorist’ boat in Pacific, Venezuela claims to have 5000 Russian missiles ready
US President Donald Trump and the War Department have rapidly escalated their war against drugs being smuggled into the country; successively blew up two boats allegedly carrying “narco-terrorists”, prompting an impassioned denunciation by Venezuela, which claimed that 5000 Russian missiles were ready to secure “peace”.
First, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday (local time) that the US “conducted a lethal kinetic attack on a drug-smuggling ship in the Eastern Pacific operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
This was not the first deadly kinetic attack Mr. Trump has ordered on so-called drug vessels. There have been eight attacks in recent weeks, including the Pacific Ocean attack. This was the first expedition to sail outside the Caribbean Sea.
Hours after making the statement, Mr Hegseth confirmed that another attack had also taken place in the Pacific Ocean and shared video of the latest attack, stating that more “narco terrorists” had been killed.
“Today, at the direction of President Trump, the War Department conducted another lethal kinetic attack on a ship operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO),” Mr. Hegseth wrote to X.
“The deceased terrorists once again engaged in drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
“The ship was known to our intelligence to be involved in illicit drug trafficking, was passing through a known drug trafficking route and was carrying narcotics.”
In the latest attack, Mr Hegseth said three “male narco-terrorists” were killed in international waters.
The US Government used similar language in all attacks and labeled those involved as terrorists. Now Mr. Hegseth has made it clear that these attacks will continue because the United States pays drug-trafficking terrorists and likened them to “Al Qaeda.”
“These strikes will continue every day,” Mr. Hegseth said.
“These are not just drug traffickers, they are narco-terrorists who bring death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs are the ‘Al Qaeda’ of our hemisphere and they will not escape justice.”
“We will find them and kill them until the threat to the American people is eliminated.”
Venezuela is ready for ‘5000 Russian missiles’
The latest attacks coincided with a threatening response from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who announced in a televised speech that the country had 5,000 Russian anti-aircraft missiles that he said the country would use to “establish peace.”
Authorities in Venezuela said US attacks on drug ships threatened the country’s sovereignty, claiming that the attacks were a harbinger of increased aggression.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Maduro said: “We have at least 5,000 in key air defense positions to ensure peace.”
He added that his country was ready to fight against “any imperialist threat” and that the armed forces were “ready to defend every inch of the homeland.”
