The Department of Defense (DOD) on Sept. 4 confirmed that two Venezuelan military planes flew over a U.S. Navy vessel in the Caribbean Sea, two days after the U.S. military destroyed a boat it said was carrying Tren de Aragua members and drugs.
“Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters,” the DOD said in a statement posted to X. “This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations.”
The DOD added that “the cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military.”
Details about the type of military planes used in the flyover and the U.S. Navy vessel involved were not provided.
The DOD did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The U.S. government has ramped up pressure on Venezuela in recent days, including the military strike that destroyed a boat with the alleged Tren de Aragua members on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the individuals on the boat were members of the gang, designated a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year, and were carrying drugs bound for the United States.
In a Fox News interview on Wednesday, Hegseth said that the United States may carry out more strikes on narco-terrorists in the region. Trump also issued a warning to the Venezuelan government in comments to reporters in the Oval Office later that day in the context of the U.S. military strike on the boat.
“We have to protect our country, and we’re going to. Venezuela has been a very bad actor,” Trump said. “They’ve been sending millions of people into the country. Many of them are Tren de Aragua, some of the worst people anywhere in the world.”
Venezuela’s government limited its reaction to the strike to questioning the authenticity of a video publicized by the Trump administration showing the attack.
Venezuelan Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez suggested it was created using artificial intelligence, a notion that was rejected by Hegseth in his interview with Fox. Ñáñez described footage as an “almost cartoonish animation, rather than a realistic depiction of an explosion.”
Hegseth said the strike “was definitely not artificial intelligence,” adding he watched live footage from Washington as it was carried out.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly said that Tren de Aragua is at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some American cities.
In recent days, Venezuela has deployed troops along Venezuela’s coast and the border with Colombia, and has urged Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia.
During a news conference with international media on Sept. 1, Maduro said that if the country were attacked, he would constitutionally declare a “republic in arms” and that Venezuela is currently at “maximum preparedness.”
“President Donald Trump, the pursuit of regime change is exhausted; it has failed as a policy worldwide,” Maduro said. “You cannot pretend to impose a situation in Venezuela.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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