Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Wednesday that the United States military is destroying suspected drug-smuggling boats at sea on direct orders from President Donald Trump, marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s anti-narcotics campaign.
Speaking at a press conference in Mexico City, Rubio revealed that a recent operation targeted a boat believed to be carrying narcotics from Venezuela. Instead of intercepting the vessel, U.S. forces destroyed it outright. The strike killed 11 people on board, per The Independent.
“Instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up, and it’ll happen again. Maybe it’s happening right now,” Rubio said, doubling down on Trump’s aggressive approach.
The move signals a dramatic shift from the longstanding U.S. policy of stopping drug boats and detaining traffickers, a tactic Rubio argued has failed to curb the trade.
“The United States has long, for many, many years, established intelligence that allow us to interdict and stop drug boats. We did that, and it doesn’t work,” Rubio told reporters, via the Washington Post.
“What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” he added.
When asked whether the targeted vessel was warned before being destroyed, Rubio defended the decision, saying: “The president has a right to eliminate immediate threats to the United States. This president is not a talker, he’s a doer.”
Trump and Vance defend escalationAt the White House earlier Wednesday, Donald Trump offered a blunt rationale for the strike.
“There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people, and everybody fully understands that,” the president said.
“Obviously, they won’t be doing it again.
"And I think a lot of other people won’t be doing it again.
"When they watch that tape, they’re going to say, ‘Let’s not do this.’”
Vice President JD Vance also backed the approach, describing those on board the destroyed vessel as “literal terrorists” seeking to traffic “deadly drugs” into the U.S.
Despite administration claims, independent experts dispute the premise that Venezuela is a central player in the global narcotics trade.
Analysts told The New York Times that Venezuela plays little to no role in fentanyl trafficking, noting that the synthetic opioid devastating U.S. communities is produced almost entirely in Mexico using precursor chemicals imported from China.
The strike comes as the U.S. expands its naval presence in waters near Venezuela, heightening tensions with the country’s autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro.
On Monday, Maduro denounced the growing U.S. military activity, calling it “the greatest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years.”