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Updated
Report:
The
September
2
Caribbean
Boat
Strike
and
Ongoing
Controversy
Ashley
Roberts
-
Capitol
Hill
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
- On
September
2, 2025,
the U.S.
military
conducted
what
President
Donald
Trump
announced
as a
strike
against
suspected
narcotics
smugglers
in
international
waters
between
Venezuela
and
Trinidad
and
Tobago.
Trump
announced
in a
social
media
post
that
U.S.
military
forces
had
struck a
boat
allegedly
operated
by Tren
de
Aragua,
a
Venezuelan
criminal
organization
the
Trump
administration
designated
as a
terrorist
group.
The
administration
claimed
11
members
were
killed
and that
the
vessel
was
loaded
with
drugs
destined
for the
United
States.
Secretary
of State
Marco
Rubio
confirmed
the
operation,
describing
the
target
as
operating
under
the
control
of
Venezuelan
President
Nicolás
Maduro.
Trump
released
video
footage
appearing
to show
a single
missile
strike
on the
boat,
setting
it
aflame.
U.S.
officials
later
confirmed
the
strike
was
carried
out by
either a
military
helicopter
or an
MQ-9
Reaper
drone.
Recent
investigative
reporting
has
dramatically
altered
the
official
narrative
of this
operation.
The
Washington
Post
reported
in late
November
that
Defense
Secretary
Pete
Hegseth
issued a
verbal
order to
kill all
crew
members
aboard
the
vessel.
According
to
multiple
sources,
the
initial
strike
failed
to kill
everyone
on
board—two
individuals
survived
and
remained
in the
water.
The
military
subsequently
launched
a second
strike
targeting
these
survivors,
which
brought
the
total
death
toll to
11. The
second
strike
has
sparked
intense
controversy,
with
legal
experts
and
lawmakers
questioning
whether
it
violates
international
law and
constitutes
a war
crime
under
the Law
of Armed
Conflict.
Pentagon
manuals
specifically
state
that
combatants
who are
wounded,
sick, or
shipwrecked
should
no
longer
be
targeted.
Former
military
lawyers
have
argued
that
targeting
survivors
in this
manner
would
breach
international
and
domestic
law.
The
White
House
confirmed
on
December
1 that
multiple
strikes
occurred
on
September
2,
though
it
attributed
the
second
strike
order to
Admiral
Frank M.
Bradley,
commander
of U.S.
Special
Operations
Command,
rather
than
directly
to
Hegseth.
White
House
Press
Secretary
Karoline
Leavitt
stated
the
strikes
were
conducted
in
"self-defense"
and in
accordance
with the
law of
armed
conflict.
However,
President
Trump
told
reporters
he
"wouldn't
have
wanted a
second
strike"
and
stated
that
Hegseth
told him
the
order to
kill the
survivors
"didn't
happen"
as
described.
The
shifting
explanations
have
drawn
scrutiny
from
lawmakers
of both
parties,
with
Senate
and
House
Armed
Services
committees
announcing
plans
for
"vigorous
oversight"
of the
operation.
The
identities
and
actual
roles of
those
killed
remain
contested.
Colombian
President
Gustavo
Petro
claimed
that one
person
killed
in a
U.S.
strike
was a
Colombian
fisherman
named
Alejandro
Carranza,
with no
ties to
drug
trafficking.
Petro
stated
the boat
was
adrift
with
engine
trouble
and a
distress
signal.
The
Trump
administration
denied
these
claims,
with
Trump
calling
Petro an
"illegal
drug
leader."
Carranza's
widow
and
acquaintances
insisted
he was a
fisherman
working
in
legitimate
fishing
waters,
questioning
why he
was not
captured
instead
of
killed.
Two U.S.
officials
acknowledged
that
Colombians
were
aboard
at least
one of
the
struck
vessels,
but
maintained
they
were
affiliated
with
criminal
organizations.
The
September
2 strike
marked
the
beginning
of an
escalating
campaign.
Since
then,
the U.S.
military
has
struck
more
than 20
boats in
the
Caribbean
Sea and
eastern
Pacific
Ocean,
killing
more
than 70
people
to date.
The
strikes
have
occurred
nearly
weekly,
with
Defense
Secretary
Hegseth
frequently
announcing
them on
social
media.
The
September
2 strike
marked
the
first
publicly
acknowledged
U.S.
military
airstrike
in
Central
or South
America
since
the
invasion
of
Panama
in 1989.
The
operation
has
drawn
criticism
from
multiple
fronts.
Colombian
President
Petro
suspended
intelligence
sharing
with the
U.S. in
November
over the
strikes,
though
Colombian
ministers
announced
continued
cooperation
would
continue.
The
United
Kingdom
suspended
sharing
intelligence
with the
U.S.
about
suspected
drug-trafficking
vessels,
stating
it does
not want
to be
complicit
in
strikes
it
believes
are
illegal.
Democratic
and some
Republican
lawmakers
have
raised
concerns
about
legality,
with
some
describing
the
strikes
as
"extrajudicial
killings"
and
potential
war
crimes.
Legal
experts
have
struggled
to find
justification
for the
second
strike
under
international
law,
citing
Geneva
Conventions
provisions
and the
Lincoln-era
Lieber
Code.
The
Trump
administration
has
argued
the U.S.
is in an
"armed
conflict"
with
drug
cartels,
granting
the
executive
authority
to
conduct
these
strikes
without
congressional
authorization.
However,
legal
scholars
have
questioned
whether
the
executive
branch
has
unilateral
authority
to
launch
attacks
in
international
waters
without
a
congressional
authorization
of
force.
The
administration
has
provided
limited
public
evidence
of the
cargo or
crew
affiliations,
instead
relying
on
classified
intelligence
assessments.
This has
intensified
scrutiny
from
Congress,
which
expects
to
review
audio
and
video
recordings
of the
operations.
The
controversy
surrounding
the
September
2 boat
strike
continues
to
evolve
as
Congress
investigates,
with
fundamental
questions
remaining
about
the
legality,
necessity,
and
wisdom
of the
ongoing
campaign
against
suspected
drug-trafficking
vessels.
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