President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, December. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo
The United States has carried out its 30th strike on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing two people, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The strike, which was announced by US Southern Command on social media, has brought the total number of known boat strikes to 30 and the number of people killed at least 107 since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
US Southern Command posted on X that intelligence confirmed a vessel was traveling along known drug trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was involved in drug trafficking operations. The military strike on the vessel resulted in the deaths of two men.
On Dec. 29, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N
US officials said the latest vessel “was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” according to AP, although no evidence was provided to support the claim. A video shared online showed a boat moving through the water before being struck by two explosions.
#24Dic📹#Sucesos Una nueva gran explosión se reportó desde la Zona Industrial del municipio San Francisco, estado Zulia, la madrugada de este 24 de diciembre.
The video or the facility has not been verified. An administration official told CNN that the president was describing a drug facility in his comments to Catsimatidis.
The Venezuelan government has not commented on the incident Trump described and there have been no independent reports from Venezuela of it.
However, US President Donald Trump has defended the strikes as part of what he calls an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. He said the action was needed to stop drugs entering the United States.
Story continues below this ad
Trump, when asked by reporters Monday about “an explosion in Venezuela,” said the US had “hit” a dock facility along a shore where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.” “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida. He did not give details on the location or who carried out the strike.
JUST IN: The United States has conducted its first land strike against Venezuela, according to President Donald Trump.
Reporter: You mentioned in a radio interview … did the military do that?
Trump: There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up… pic.twitter.com/XMIZf1vT2q
The strikes form part of a broader pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US has accused of narcoterrorism. Alongside the strikes, the Trump administration has increased the military presence in the region and has seized several sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela.
Maduro has denied US accusations and says the real goal of the operations is to remove him from power. Lawmakers in the US have questioned the strike campaign after reports that one of the early attacks also killed survivors in the water after a first hit.
The Trump administration has been faced scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign. It grew amid revelations that the first attack in early September involved a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.
Share
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, December. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo 
