The U.S. military killed four people in a strike against a vessel allegedly carrying illegal drugs off the coast of Venezuela on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced, marking at least the fourth such attack.

Hegseth said President Donald Trump ordered the operation, which targeted a “narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations” in international waters within U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility. The four individuals killed were described as “male narco-terrorists” transporting substantial amounts of narcotics bound for the United States.

“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 wrote on X. “These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!”

Earlier this morning, on President Trump’s orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the… pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025

The U.S. military has now conducted at least four such strikes against suspected drug boats in the past month, resulting in at least 21 fatalities. 

The latest operation comes after Trump provided documentation to Congress declaring that the United States is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.

The administration recently designated these cartels as terrorist organizations. Trump has defended the strategy, claiming each intercepted vessel carries enough narcotics to kill tens of thousands of people. Speaking to military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, he suggested the operations are already proving effective.

“General Caine says, sir, there are no boats out there, not even fishing boats. They don’t want to go fishing,” Trump said.

The administration has indicated it may extend operations to target cartels “coming by land” in Venezuela, a move that could further escalate legal concerns about the use of military force in counter-narcotics operations.

Legal experts have raised questions about the use of military strikes rather than maritime law enforcement agencies like the Coast Guard, which traditionally handle drug interdictions at sea. Experts also question why non-lethal methods to stop these shipments are not attempted before resorting to deadly force.