President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that a U.S. strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela had killed six suspected drug traffickers.
The operation, conducted in international waters, targeted a vessel intelligence confirmed was trafficking narcotics and associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks.
Trump shared the announcement on his Truth Social platform, stating that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the strike early that morning.
A roughly 30-second video posted by Trump showed a stationary vessel in a body of water being hit with a projectile before exploding.
No U.S. forces were harmed in the incident.
This marks the fifth such deadly U.S. strike in the Caribbean, according to reports.
The action comes amid a broader U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, including F-35 aircraft stationed in Puerto Rico, eight warships carrying thousands of sailors and marines, and one nuclear-powered submarine.
The Pentagon has disclosed to Congress that Trump has determined the United States is engaged in a non-international armed conflict with drug cartels.
An internal administration memo reportedly classified cartels engaged in drug smuggling as non-state armed groups whose actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.
The White House has defended the strikes as necessary to counter narco-terrorist members of Tren de Aragua, a group designated as a foreign terrorist organization, and to disrupt the flow of drugs into the U.S.
The strike exemplifies Trump's approach to deploying U.S. military power in unconventional ways against drug trafficking suspects, including counter-terrorism operations at sea.
The administration has provided limited details on previous strikes, such as the identities of those killed or information about the cargo involved.
Some former military lawyers argue that the legal justifications for killing suspects at sea, rather than apprehending them, do not fully meet requirements under the law of war.
Lawmakers and human rights groups have raised questions about the legality of these attacks.
In September, United Nations experts condemned the U.S. strikes on small boats believed to be trafficking drugs as extrajudicial executions.
International law does not allow governments to simply murder alleged drug traffickers, the experts said.
Criminal activities should be disrupted, investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the rule of law, including through international cooperation, they added.
Last week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro indicated that one of the recently targeted boats was Colombian and had Colombians onboard.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly accused the U.S. of seeking to drive him from power.
In August, Washington doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50 million, citing his alleged links to drug trafficking and criminal groups, which Maduro denies.
The operations occur against a backdrop of heightened U.S.-Venezuela tensions, with Maduro alleging U.S. interference in Venezuelan affairs.
Trump described the targeted vessel as linked to a designated terrorist organization, though he did not specify which group.
The administration's strategy reflects an escalation in efforts to combat drug flows, framing them within the context of national security and armed conflict.