MIAMI, Sept 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Tuesday to keep using the "full might" of the United States to "eradicate" drug cartels after US forces shot a drug-hauling boat leaving Venezuela.

President Donald Trump has "been very clear that he's going to use the full power of America, the full might of the United States, to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they're operating from," Rubio told reporters as he left Miami for a visit to Mexico.

"The days of acting with impunity and having an engine shot down or a couple of drugs grabbed off a boat -- those days are over," he said.

Rubio, a vociferous critic of Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro, stopped short of threatening direct action against his rule.

Asked if the United States would strike against Maduro on Venezuelan soil, Rubio replied, "This is a counter-drug operation."