The United States has carried out another strike against a suspected drug trafficking vessel near Venezuela, killing four people. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the action on Friday, describing it as the fourth such operation in recent weeks.
The strike took place in international waters just off Venezuela’s coast. In a video shared by Hegseth, a small boat can be seen moving through the water before multiple projectiles hit, triggering a powerful explosion that destroyed the vessel.
According to Hegseth, U.S. intelligence confirmed the craft was carrying a significant amount of drugs and that those on board were “narco-terrorists.” He did not provide evidence or specify what type or quantity of narcotics were involved.
President Donald Trump also commented, claiming the boat carried enough drugs to kill between 25,000 and 50,000 people. He stressed that the United States would continue these strikes until the cartels’ threat to Americans was eliminated.
Venezuela has not yet responded to the incident. President Nicolás Maduro has frequently accused Washington of using drug trafficking allegations as a pretext to try to remove him from power, a claim the U.S. denies. Just two months ago, the Trump administration doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, raising it to $50 million.
The strikes come as Trump formally declared that the U.S. is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels. This legal framing allows the military to conduct operations against them, though experts question whether it meets the standards required under international law.
In the past, such missions have typically been handled by the U.S. Coast Guard, which is the lead agency for maritime law enforcement. Using the military to carry out targeted killings at sea represents a sharp escalation in tactics.
Some former military lawyers have warned that these justifications fall short of the requirements of the laws of war. They argue that suspected traffickers should be apprehended and prosecuted, not targeted with lethal strikes.
The operation is part of a broader U.S. buildup in the region. At present, eight warships and thousands of sailors and marines are stationed in the southern Caribbean. The Pentagon has also deployed F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico and sent a nuclear-powered submarine to bolster its presence.
Trump has suggested that future military actions could also target drug cartels operating on land, a move that would likely ignite even sharper legal and diplomatic disputes.
So far, U.S. officials have provided little detail about previous strikes, including the identities of those killed or specifics about the drugs allegedly seized. The lack of transparency has fueled questions about the scope, legality, and motives of these missions.
For Maduro’s government, the U.S. campaign underscores the ongoing pressure it faces from Washington, which has long sought to isolate him diplomatically and link him directly to organized crime networks.
