“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vance wrote on X on Saturday.

Responding to criticism that the strike violated international law, he added: “I don’t give a sh*t what you call it.”

The Trump administration said the vessel, destroyed Friday with 11 people killed, belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, recently designated a terrorist organisation.

President Donald Trump accused the group of working with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to smuggle drugs into the United States.

International law experts warned the attack may breach the UN Charter, which allows force only in self-defence or with Security Council approval.

While critics noted that no evidence was provided to prove the boat posed an imminent threat, the White House, however, insisted the strike was “fully consistent” with international law and “taken in defence of vital US national interests.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed more such operations. “Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco terrorist will face the same fate,” Hegseth told Fox News.

The strike marks a sharp escalation from typical US anti-smuggling operations, which are usually handled by the Coast Guard, seizing contraband and detaining crews.

Vance, who has long advocated deploying the military against cartels, said last year: “I think we’ll send [the troops] in to do battle with the Mexican drug cartels, too.”

Who are Tren de Aragua?

Tren de Aragua is a powerful Venezuelan criminal syndicate that has expanded across South America in recent years.

Originally formed around 2014 in the state of Aragua, the group began as a prison gang but grew into a sprawling transnational network involved in drug trafficking, extortion, human smuggling, and illegal mining.

The gang has established a presence in Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Brazil, exploiting migration routes to expand its influence.

Authorities in several countries have linked it to violent crimes, including kidnappings and contract killings.

In August 2025, US President Donald Trump formally designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of collaborating with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to traffic cocaine and other drugs into the United States.

Venezuela denies the claims, but regional governments have identified the gang as one of the fastest-growing criminal threats in Latin America.