2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers (sep 1, 2025 – 4h 26min, jun 8, 2026 y)

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The United States military began executing airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea in September 2025, positioned by the administration of Donald Trump as a mission to fight maritime drug trafficking in Latin America to the US. In October, the strikes expanded to include the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The Trump administration alleged that the vessels were operated by groups it designated as narcoterrorists, including the Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua and the Colombian far-left guerilla group National Liberation Army, but has not publicized any evidence for the allegations.

The US began deploying Navy warships and personnel to the Caribbean in mid-August. Trump announced on September 2nd that the US Navy had carried out the first airstrike in the Caribbean on a boat from Venezuela, killing all eleven people on the vessel; he released a video of the incident, which Venezuelan sources said had occurred on September 1st. The next day, Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary of Defense, said military operations against drug cartels in Venezuela would continue and Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, suggested that similar strikes could follow. As of December 18th, 2025, at least 104 people have been killed in at least 28 strikes on 29 vessels.

The strikes came amid tensions between the United States and Venezuela as Trump steadily increased pressure. Venezuelan opposition figures, Trump administration sources and independent political analysts have suggested that the US's true motive is to remove Maduro. Experts, human rights groups and international bodies said the killings were illegal under US and international law, and the Colombian and Venezuelan governments have accused the US of extrajudicial murder. As of November 6th, the Republican-controlled US Senate has twice rejected resolutions that would limit Trump's authority to continue military action against Venezuela or airstrikes against alleged drug vessels.

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