U.S. strike kills 4 on suspected drug boat off Venezuela

U.S. forces carried out an airstrike on a vessel off the coast of Venezuela, killing four people described as narco-terrorists. It was the fourth confirmed strike on a vessel in the ongoing U.S. anti-cartel campaign in the Caribbean.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Friday the strike was conducted in international waters in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility.

“Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation,” Hegseth said in a statement. He added that the boat was carrying “substantial amounts of narcotics” headed 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 said. “These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over.”

President Donald Trump also commented on the operation, writing on social media that the vessel was “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 to 50 thousand people.”

The strike marks the latest in a series of U.S. operations targeting suspected drug trafficking in the Caribbean. More than a week ago, the Dominican Republic confirmed that a U.S. airstrike destroyed a speedboat off its southern coast, carrying about 1,000 kilograms of suspected cocaine.

That operation was part of a broader campaign launched after the United States deployed warships to the Caribbean to crack down on trafficking routes from Venezuela. U.S. forces have destroyed at least three boats in recent weeks, leaving at least 17 people dead.

Washington designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua criminal network as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of mass murder, drug trafficking, and sex trafficking under the control of leader Nicolás Maduro.