The US armed forces reported a new attack on a suspected drug boat in Pacific waters on Wednesday (December 17, 2025), with four deaths.
“Intelligence confirmed that the ship was transiting a known drug trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and conducting drug trafficking operations,” the U.S. Southern Command’s X release said.
Since the anti-drug campaign began in September, the United States has carried out more than 25 such attacks, killing at least 99 people.
The new attack was announced amid rising tensions with Venezuela after President Donald Trump claimed the South American country had “stolen” US oil and assets.
On Tuesday, Trump ordered the seizure of all sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, as they did with one towed to a U.S. port in the Caribbean last week.
This new attack destroyed more than 30 boats and killed at least a hundred people said to be linked to organized crime, although the Trump administration has not released details about their identities.
The United States maintains a strong military presence on the Venezuelan coast and the Republican president does not rule out soon attacks on land targets, justifying them with the fight against drug trafficking.
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