This is the moment the US carries out a missile strike on a “drug boat” from Venezuela, killing 11 on board. Night-time footage shared by the White House on Tuesday (2 September) shows a speedboat exploding into a fireball after being struck by a missile. Donald Trump said that the deadly strike targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who were transporting drugs bound for the US across international waters. Posting about the attack on his Truth Social platform, the US president said: “No US Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”

Trump says ‘we took it out’ amid US-Caracas tensions but not clear if incident occurred inside Venezuelan waters

The attack is the first known operation since a recent surge of US warships to the region to combat cartels.