Miami, US (EFE).- The United States government announced on Sunday that it killed three alleged drug traffickers linked to the Colombian guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) in a new attack against a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, the seventh such attack since the US declared an “armed conflict” against drug traffickers.
“On Oct. 17, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” reported Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth added that the vessel was sailing “along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics.”
He also clarified that no US soldiers were injured in the attack, which took place in international waters.
The US official shared a video showing the moment the vessel was bombed and compared the cartels to Al-Qaeda.
“These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder, and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people. The US military will treat these organizations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed, just like Al Qaeda,” he stated.
It is the latest attack carried out by US forces against an alleged drug-trafficking vessel since the US declared an “armed conflict” against drug trafficking in October.
Since then, Washington has deployed numerous forces in the Caribbean Sea to combat drug trafficking near the Venezuelan coast, which has caused increasing tension between the US and Nicolás Maduro’s government, which sees the operation as a prelude to a possible attack against Venezuela.
This has also heightened tensions with Colombia, as Trump accuses the country of not doing enough to crack down on drug trafficking.
On Sunday, Trump announced the end of financial aid to Bogotá and described Colombian President Gustavo Petro as a “drug lord.”
The very same day, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs rejected the “direct threat to national sovereignty” by President Trump and announced that it would turn to “all international bodies” for defense.
In a statement, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs said Trump’s remarks were “offensive” to Petro and a direct threat to national sovereignty by proposing illegal intervention in Colombian territory. EFE
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