U.S. forces carried out a "lethal, kinetic strike" Friday morning against a narco-trafficking vessel off Venezuela, a direct order from President Donald Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.
"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," Hegseth wrote on X.
The vessel, he said, was intercepted in international waters just off the Venezuelan coast.
"Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation," he said.
Trump subsequently chimed in on Truth Social, writing, "A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory."
Hegseth emphasized that the target was confirmed through intelligence.
"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 said there was no ambiguity about the mission's legitimacy.
"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."
This latest strike reflects a wider Trump administration policy that has reclassified cartel networks as "narco-terrorist" organizations, giving the military expanded latitude to target them in the Caribbean and Latin America.
U.S. officials say the campaign is aimed at disrupting the flow of cocaine and other illicit drugs before they reach American shores.
Hegseth promised the fight will not stop here: "These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!"
Friday's strike is being cast as a clear-cut victory: no U.S. casualties, four traffickers eliminated, and a narcotics shipment destroyed before it reached the homeland.
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