Evening Brief: US Sinks Third Drug Boat off Venezuela, Ukraine to Get $3.5 Billion in Weapons, Israeli Forces Push Deeper Into Gaza City

Evening rundown for Wednesday, September 17, 2025.

US Sinks Third Suspected Drug-Smuggling Boat off Venezuela

President Donald Trump said recently that US naval forces have sunk a third suspected drug-smuggling boat off Venezuela, following earlier strikes that reportedly killed 11 people on September 2 and three others this week.

Trump claimed the vessels carried cocaine and fentanyl and called those aboard “narcoterrorists.”

The operations come as US-Venezuela tensions escalate, with Washington deploying eight warships, F-35 jets, and 4,500 personnel to the Caribbean in its largest regional show of force in decades.

🚨Update: US Naval Task Force destroyed another Narco Terrorist drug boat loaded with cocaine and fentanyl in-route to the United States! pic.twitter.com/AiiPd4frM1