US strike on drug boat from Venezuela kills 11
A strike on what the US called a Venezuelan gang's drug-carrying vessel killed 11 people, Donald Trump has said.
Speaking at a news conference at the White House, the US president told reporters: "We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
"And there's more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio then added: "These particular drugs were probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean.
"Suffice to say the president is going to be on offence against drug cartels and drug trafficking in the United States."
Mr Trump later posted a video on Truth Social of a vessel exploding, in what appeared to mark the first US military operation in the southern Caribbean to crack down on drug cartels.
The president said on social media that the US military had identified the crew as members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated a terrorist group in February.
He then alleged that Tren de Aragua is being controlled by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, which the country denies.
Venezuelan officials have repeatedly said that Tren de Aragua is no longer active in their country after they dismantled it during a prison raid in 2023.
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