Related video: US Navy Strikes Drug Cartel Vessel Off Venezuela, Rubio Confirms
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday shared a video of what President Trump described as the “kinetic” strike that allegedly took out 11 members of the Tren de Aragua transnational gang on a “drug vessel” in the Caribbean that morning.
Trump announced the U.S. military strike in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Hegseth reposted Trump’s announcement of the strike and included a 29-second “unclassified” video of the alleged strike.
The video features black-and-white footage of the boat traveling in the sea, shot from several angles.
The video shows the boat continuing undisturbed for the first 20 seconds, before a flash of bright light appears on the screen and, for nine seconds, the boat is seen catching fire as smoke envelops the surrounding area.
“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump said in a post announcing the strike.
“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” the president added in the post.
The strike took place while the boat was in international waters and was transporting “illegal” narcotics. It had departed Venezuela and was en route to the U.S., the president said.
“Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America,” Trump said. “BEWARE!”
