Above photo: AFP.
Narcotics experts and reports from the DEA have refuted Trump’s claims that the Fentanyl entering the US originates from Venezuela.
The US military carried out an airstrike targeting several alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean late on 15 December, killing eight people just hours after US President Donald Trump announced that Washington is officially declaring Fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction (WMD).
The army’s Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it bombed “designated terrorist organizations” with “lethal kinetic strikes.”
SOUTHCOM added that eight were killed – “Three in the first vessel, two in the second, and three in the third.”
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking,” it went on to say.
The US Army did not provide any evidence confirming that the three boats were involved in trafficking narcotics.
A video shared by the military showed a boat moving through the water before being blown up.
On Dec. 15, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/IQfCVvUpau
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 16, 2025
Hours earlier, Trump announced that the US is officially declaring Fentanyl a WMD. “Two to three hundred thousand people die every year, that we know of, so we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,” Trump said.
BREAKING: President Trump just declared FENTANYL a WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
This critical step unleashes every tool to combat the cartels & foreign networks responsible for flooding communities with this deadly substance—the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-45. pic.twitter.com/C9YXC53kzK
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 15, 2025
The executive order stated that “the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, primarily performed by organized criminal networks, threatens our national security and fuels lawlessness in our hemisphere and at our borders.”
The invasion and occupation of Iraq, which killed over a million people, was launched under false claims that Saddam Hussein’s government possessed WMDs.
The US announcement coincides with a continued military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and recent airstrikes on what Washington claims are “drug boats” responsible for the flow of Fentanyl into the US.
Trump claims Venezuela is the origin of much of the Fentanyl that enters the US, a claim that has been refuted by narcotics experts and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports.
These attacks have killed at least 93 people since September, including innocent fishermen from Colombia, Ecuador, and Trinidad and Tobago.
On 2 September, the US bombed an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in international waters near Venezuela. The first airstrike destroyed the boat and killed most of the people aboard. Two unarmed survivors clinging to wreckage were then killed in a deadly follow-up strike right after.
Washington has come under heavy scrutiny for the “double tap” attack. The Washington Post reported that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave orders to “kill everybody” on board. Hegseth denied the report.
Members of Congress have demanded the release of video footage showing the strike. A new defense policy bill includes a provision on putting limits on Hegseth’s 2026 travel budget until he provides the footage of the 2 September strike.
Last week, the US seized a Venezuelan oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The US had imposed sanctions on the vessel under claims it was involved in the Iranian oil trade.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it said was a “blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the US, who confessed to the assault on an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.”
“Already in his 2024 campaign, [Trump] openly stated that his objective has always been to keep Venezuelan oil without paying any consideration in return, making it clear that the policy of aggression against our country responds to a deliberate plan to plunder our energy wealth,” the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry added.
“The true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It is not migration. It is not narcotics trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always been about our natural wealth,” the statement went on to say.
