An alleged drug-trafficking boat destroyed by the U.S. military last week may have been turning back when it was struck, according to two people familiar with the incident.
Sources told CBS News that those onboard noticed the military aircraft overhead and attempted to turn around before the vessel was repeatedly hit. The New York Times first reported the development.
President Trump said last week that the strike killed 11 people. The administration claimed the vessel, which departed Venezuela, was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, recently designated by the White House as a foreign terrorist organization.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly stated on Thursday that the President acted in accordance with the laws of armed conflict to defend the country. “The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring poison to our shores,” she said.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, however, disputed the U.S. account. Speaking on state television, he said none of those killed were members of the gang. “They openly confessed to killing 11 people,” Cabello said, according to a Reuters translation. “We have done our investigations here in our country and there are the families of the disappeared people who want their relatives, and when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers.”
In response, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell dismissed Cabello’s remarks, calling Venezuela’s government an “illegitimate narco-terrorist regime” whose statements should not be taken at face value. He reiterated that the U.S. military will act to stop drug traffickers in international waters and across the Western Hemisphere.
“This strike sent a clear message: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, the United States military will use every tool at our disposal to stop you cold,” Parnell said.
The Pentagon declined to comment on whether the boat was turning back before it was destroyed.
Facing questions over the legal basis for the strike, the White House last week notified Congress that the President acted within his constitutional authority. The Sept. 4 notification stated: “I directed these actions consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority as commander in chief and chief executive to conduct United States foreign relations.”
President Trump also signaled that further operations could follow. “It is not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that will be necessary,” he said. “United States forces remain postured to carry out further military operations.”
