Trump Administration Wipes Out Another Drug Ship, This Time From ELN Narco-Terrorist Group

The Administration of President Donald Trump reported on Sunday that its anti-narcotics operation in the Caribbean attacked another vessel dedicated to drug trafficking last Friday, also detailing that, on this occasion, it would be a boat belonging to the Colombian narco-terrorist organization National Liberation Army (ELN), which is known to be one of the most violent and powerful guerrilla groups in the history of Colombia. The announcement by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth marks a sharp departure from previous attacks on drug trafficking vessels, having been, in all cases, lanchas linked to Venezuelan narco-terrorist groups Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles.

"On October 17th, 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. The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics," Hegseth explained in a posting on his X account, where he also detailed that the suspected narco-terrorists on the vessel were killed in the attack.

Petro's response

Following Hegseth's announcement, Colombian President Gustavo Petro reacted harshly by accusing the Trump Administration not only of having violated Colombia's sovereignty, but also of having killed in the attack three people whom he described as "civilians" in Colombian territorial waters. "The Colombian boat was drifting and with the breakdown signal on as it had an engine on top. We await explanations from the U.S. government," Petro wrote on his X account.

Also, the socialist leader wrote in another X publication that the boat came from the city of Santa Marta and that it belonged to a fisherman who was not part of the ELN. Likewise, Petro revealed the identity of one of the alleged crew members of the boat and confirmed his death in the attack. "The boat of the Santa Marta fisherman was not from the ELN, it belonged to a humble family, a lover of the sea, and that is where he got his food. What do you say to that family, explain to me why you helped assassinate a humble fisherman from Santa Marta, the land where Bolivar died and which they say is the heart of the world. What do you say to the family of the fisherman Alejandro Carranza? He was a humble human being," Petro wrote.