President Donald Trump announced a strike on a drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean on Sept. 2, which killed 11.

The strike left Venezuela and was being used by a "designated narco-terrorist organization,” according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as Breitbart News reported.

This comes after the Trump administration’s recent decision to increase the naval presence near Venezuela as an effort to combat drug cartels.

In response, President Nicolás Maduro ordered troops to be deployed along the nation’s coast and border with Colombia, calling on Venezuelans to join civilian militias.

Trump’s Take

The president addressed the strike that killed almost a dozen in a post on social media, giving no ground on the country’s stance on “narcoterrorists.”

“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.

The president went on to say that the strike caused “11 terrorists [to be] killed in action,” and that “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike."

Notice to Others

The president said he hopes that the strike serves as “notice” to anyone who was “even thinking about bringing drugs” into the United States.

A senior U.S. Defense official also addressed the military action, saying that it was a “precision strike against a drug vessel operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization.”

This came just days before U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the seizure of drug precursors at a press briefing in Houston, Texas.

“Don't think you're going to get away with it,” Pirro said to possible drug dealers. “We know. You'd be amazed at what we know. We may be following you now, waiting for you to go to the next guy. We may be watching you and not ready to take you down. So don't risk it because you're going to jail.”