The U.S. Department of War (Formerly the Department of Defense) reportedly has not provided any evidence that the speed boat that was destroyed by the U.S. Navy of September 2nd was involved in drug trafficking, as had been alleged by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Senator Jack Reed, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, quoted in an article by CNN, Pentagon officials did not provide conclusive evidence that the 11 individuals killed were members of Tren de Aragua or any other cartel. Reed stated, “They have offered no positive identification that the boat was Venezuelan, nor that its crew were members of Tren de Aragua or any other cartel.”
Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s Interior Minister, had also previously stated on state television that the individuals killed were not part of Tren de Aragua. Instead, he described them as "humble fishermen" from Puerto La Cruz, a city in Anzoátegui state, Venezuela.
According to the article, which also sourced 3 other individuals with knowledge of the briefing gave by the Pentagon to members of the Senate, The Pentagon briefers acknowledged they could not definitively determine where the boat was headed.
The Trump Administration themselves have contradicted themselves over the strike, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the boat was headed for the U.S., which many analysts stated the boat that was destroyed was incapable of travelling to the U.S, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the drugs were likely destined for Trinidad or another Caribbean country.
While Trump Administration officials claimed to the Western media that the boat appeared to turn around at the sight of the U.S. military aircraft monitoring it, : The Pentagon briefers admitted they had no intelligence indicating the individuals on the boat were armed combatants or posed an imminent threat to U.S. forces., which has led to questions about the legality of the strike, along with questions if the boat was involved in drug smuggling, and if so, was it heading for the U.S.
Currently, the U.S. has deployed over a dozen Naval destroyers, submarines, amphibious landing craft, along with 10 F-35 stealth bombers and nearly 4,500 Marines to the region.
While Washington claims this is part of a counter-narcotics operation, many observers including Venezuelan Presdient Nicholas Maduro believe the objective is a military operation to overthrow the government of Maduro, something Trump attempted to do in his first term.