US forces have killed four people in an attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela that was allegedly trafficking drugs, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says.
“The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics – headed to America to poison our people,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X.
It is the latest in a number of recent deadly strikes that the US has carried out on boats in international waters it says are involved in “narco-trafficking”.
The strikes have attracted condemnation in countries including Venezuela and Colombia, with some international lawyers describing the strikes as a breach of international law.
Hegseth said the attack took place in the US Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which covers most of South America and the Caribbean.
“Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route,” Hegseth said about Friday’s attack.
“These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!”
US President Trump also confirmed the strike on his Truth Social platform, saying that the boat was carrying enough drugs “to kill 25 to 50 thousand people”.
However, the US has not provided evidence for its claims or any information about the identities of those on board.
There was no immediate response from Venezuela but its president, Nicolás Maduro, has previously condemned the strikes and said his country will defend itself against US “aggression”.
Friday’s fatal attack is the fourth by the US in a month.
Trump said 11 people had been killed in a strike against a drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean at the start of September.
Later in the month, two separate strikes days apart killed a total of six people.
This Thursday, a leaked memo sent to Congress – reported by US media – said the US government had now decided it was in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.
This is significant because the administration is required by law to report to Congress if it will use the armed forces, which suggests it plans to use further military action.
The US positioned its strikes on alleged drug boats as self-defence, despite many lawyers questioning their legality.
Framing this as an active armed conflict is likely a way for Trump to justify using more extreme wartime powers – for example killing “enemy fighters” even if they have not posed a violent threat, or detaining people indefinitely. These are similar powers to those applied to al-Qaeda after 9/11.
Trump has not provided the reasoning for why he appears to be categorising drug trafficking and associated crimes as an “armed attack”, or named which cartels he believes are attacking the US.
He has already designated many cartels, including in Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela, as terrorist organisations – granting US authorities more powers in their response to them.
