Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the destruction of a vessel in the Pacific Ocean, which was allegedly used for drug trafficking.
The Pentagon chief reported in X that the US military hit the boat on November 4 after intelligence data showed that it was transporting drugs by members of an organization that Washington considers terrorist. The name of the organization was not specified. The Defense Secretary said that there were two “narco-terrorists“ on board. They were killed.
The Secretary of Defense assured that US forces will “discover and destroy any vessels“ that attempt to smuggle drugs into the United States. “No cartel stands a chance against the US military“, Hegseth added.
In recent weeks, US forces have repeatedly claimed to have destroyed boats under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
The US administration denies that it is considering three scenarios for using military force against Venezuela to overthrow its President Nicolas Maduro.
“This article in the “New York Times“ is full of errors. "It's not news, it's commentary for the editorial page," wrote Richard Grenell, the US president's special representative abroad.
The newspaper previously reported that the US government is exploring three possible scenarios for a military operation against Venezuela to remove Maduro from power. According to the Times, the first option involves air strikes against Venezuelan military facilities to weaken support for Maduro by the country's armed forces. The second option involves the use of US Navy SEALs to capture or kill the Venezuelan president. According to the third plan, the US could send forces to Venezuela to seize airports, oil fields and a number of infrastructure facilities.
According to the newspaper, some senior US administration officials, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, are pushing for a military solution to the Venezuelan issue. However, US President Donald Trump is currently reluctant to approve operations that "could endanger US troops or lead to embarrassing failure", the newspaper writes.
Washington accuses the Venezuelan government of insufficiently combating drug trafficking. Under this pretext, the US has deployed large forces in the Caribbean region.
As previously reported, Trump ordered the cessation of all attempts to achieve a diplomatic resolution to the tensions with Venezuela on October 7. He authorized the CIA to begin subversive operations in Venezuela. Trump publicly admitted on October 15 that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in the country. However, he refused to answer the question of whether the CIA had authorized attempts to assassinate Maduro. The Venezuelan leader has repeatedly stated that the country faces the most serious threat of a US invasion in 100 years.