https://redstate.com/streiff/2025/09/06/jd-vance-gives-the-best-reason-ever-why-military-strikes-against-drug-runners-are-legitimate-n2193663
On September 2, 2025, the U.S. military executed a "kinetic strike"—widely described as an air or missile attack—on a boat operating in international waters near Venezuela. The strike killed 11 individuals aboard the vessel.
According to President Trump, those aboard were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) earlier in the year.
A dramatic video of the attack was released, showing a speedboat exploding after being struck—no U.S. forces were harmed.
The administration framed this as a bold departure from the longstanding Coast Guard–led drug interdiction model, signaling a willingness to use military force against narcoterrorism in the Western Hemisphere.
