Rubio warns that there will be more attacks against Venezuelan cartels because seizing them does not work: "What will stop them is destroying them"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended on Wednesday, from Mexico, the recent military action ordered by President Donald Trump against a Tren de Aragua (TdA) vessel in international waters in the Caribbean and warned that Washington will hit narcoterrorism with force again at any time.

On Tuesday, the U.S. announced that it shot down a TdA vessel carrying drugs into the country.

According to authorities, the operation left 11 members of the terrorist organization dead. The event made clear how the Department of Defense will act in case of detecting vessels or ships linked to designated terrorist organizations, including the TdA, Mexican cartels, or the Cartel of the Suns led by dictator Nicolás Maduro.

"We're not going to sit back anymore and watch these people sail up and down the Caribbean like a cruise," Rubio said at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry Building in Mexico City. Rubio, who is also the White House National Security Advisor, noted that the criminal gang Tren de Aragua was designated a terrorist organization in February of this year and that the attack is not an isolated event but the beginning of a new strategy to confront international drug trafficking.

"The president of the United States has determined that narco-terrorist organizations pose a threat to the national security of the United States. I don't need to explain to you why," Rubio said, noting that the Venezuelan criminal group, also linked to Maduro, is not only engaged in drug trafficking but also arms and human trafficking.

Rubio stated that Washington's previous policy of only seizing and detaining drug traffickers was notoriously insufficient.

"Because these drug cartels, what they do is they know they're going to lose 2% of their cargo—they bake it into their economics (...) What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them," he said.

The Secretary of State also warned about the growing armed capability of these organizations, which, according to intelligence reports, no longer have grenades, landmines, or firearms in their arsenal, but would be incorporating more advanced technology, such as drones.

"We are increasingly concerned that these cartels are now in possession of not just landmines and grenades. We're now seeing the deployment of drone technology by narco-terrorist groups operating out of Venezuelan territory," Rubio warned.

The Secretary of State remarked that this new approach will be sustained and that this is not an isolated event.

"It'll happen again. Maybe it's happening right now, I don't know. But the point is the president of the United States is going to wage war on narco-terrorist organizations," he said.

With this, through its top foreign policy official, the Trump Administration is sending a clear warning that it will continue its military operations against criminal organizations operating out of Venezuela and other parts of the hemisphere.