In a dramatic escalation of America’s fight against drug cartels, the U.S. Coast Guard over the weekend reportedly captured, burned, and sank another suspected narco-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, a fiery display of what the administration is calling the new Trump Doctrine on narco-terror.
The strike came as part of Operation Pacific Viper, an intensified Coast Guard campaign that has seized more than 40,000 pounds of cocaine since its launch last month.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone carried out three interdictions in one night, officials said, capturing seven suspected traffickers and nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine.
The Department of Homeland Security emphasized the scale of the operation with a post on X that featured video footage of the boat being set ablaze and riddled with gunfire before sinking beneath the waves. “ASMR: @USCG captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat,” the department wrote, using the term for the sensation of tingling pleasure that the video seemed designed to provoke in viewers.
The footage, which spread rapidly online, captured the most visually striking moment yet in a campaign that the administration insists will deliver lasting blows to international drug networks.
The interdictions followed an unprecedented move by the U.S. military just days earlier. On September 2, a Marine Corps strike team sank another suspected cartel vessel in the southern Caribbean Sea, which officials identified as being operated by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan narco-gang.
ASMR: @USCG captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat.
Over the weekend, as part of Operation Pacific Viper, the @USCG Cutter Stone conducted three interdictions in a single night—seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehending seven suspected drug smugglers. pic.twitter.com/wHRGUGYtTw
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 9, 2025
The strike was personally confirmed by President Donald J. Trump.
“We just, over the last few minutes, shot out a drug-carrying boat … These came out of Venezuela. And there’s more where that came from,” Trump declared from the White House, noting that the decision followed a high-level briefing with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He warned that more strikes would follow.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the president, calling the action justified and confirming that the vessel was run by a “designated narco-terrorist organization.”
The administration has linked these operations directly to the Maduro regime in Venezuela. With tensions rising between Washington and Caracas, the White House has deployed at least eight U.S. Navy warships to the region, expanded military authority through cartel terror designations, and raised the bounty on Nicolás Maduro to $50 million. Officials argue that the Venezuelan dictator’s ties to international trafficking networks demand a forceful American response.
The Coast Guard described Operation Pacific Viper as a “surge” involving cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams working alongside international partners to interdict drug routes moving north from South America. DHS officials said the campaign marks a new era of coordination and scale in drug enforcement efforts.
For the Trump administration, the double strike — Coast Guard interdictions by sea and a Marine Corps attack in the Caribbean — underscores a broader shift in U.S. policy. It is not merely about interdicting shipments; it is about taking down the vessels and the networks behind them.
As the president framed it, the message to cartels and hostile regimes was unmistakable: the United States will not hesitate to use force at sea. One thing is clear, as administration officials have repeatedly emphasized — under the Trump Doctrine, America isn’t just seizing drugs. It’s sinking the whole ship.
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