WASHINGTON – The United States has launched a strike against a Venezuelan drug vessel in the southern Caribbean, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday. According to Trump, eleven people aboard the ship were killed. The vessel was reportedly under the control of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Trump stated that the attack occurred in international waters while the ship was transporting narcotics toward the U.S. “This is a warning to anyone even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States,” he wrote on social media. He added that no American personnel were injured.

A U.S. defense official confirmed to Reuters that it was a “precision strike against a drug vessel” but declined to provide details on the weapons used, the cargo, or the exact location. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the operation as a “lethal attack.”

The strike marks the first publicly disclosed action since Washington deployed additional naval forces to the Caribbean to intensify its fight against drug cartels. The deployment includes seven warships, a nuclear submarine, and more than 4,500 Marines and sailors.

The Venezuelan government has not yet issued a response. President Nicolás Maduro has long argued that the U.S. exaggerates Venezuela’s role as a transit point for Colombian cocaine, pointing instead to United Nations reports that, according to him, show only a small portion of Colombian narcotics pass through Venezuelan territory.