Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military conducted another deadly strike on an alleged drug boat Friday, killing four people while questions remain as to the legal justification underpinning the attacks on suspected narcotics traffickers from Latin America. Hegseth said on social media that he directed the strike “on President Trump’s orders.” His post also included video showing a boat traveling at high speed before it is struck and engulfed in flames.
Hegseth said the boat was traveling in international waters “just off the coast of Venezuela” and carrying “substantial amounts” of narcotics. He did not identify what type of drugs were on board or present evidence of the crew’s involvement in the illegal drug trade, other than to say the U.S. intelligence community had identified them as such “without a doubt.”
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Since early September, when the Trump administration began its military campaign targeting suspected drug traffickers, U.S. officials have reported killing 21 people aboard at least four vessels similar to the one destroyed Friday. The administration has not publicly disclosed the names of those who have been slain.
Congress received notification this week that President Donald Trump has determined the United States is in “armed conflict” with the drug cartels, a status that aims to provide legal cover to the administration for using deadly force.
In the notice to Congress reviewed by The Washington Post, the White House indicated that Trump directed the attacks pursuant to the law of armed conflict after he “determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations” and must conduct the strikes in self-defense.
Advertisement
Trump, endeavoring to explain why the military action is necessary, has repeatedly claimed that more than 300,000 U.S. citizens die of drug overdoses annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 87,000 overdose deaths for the year ending in September 2024, a nearly 27 percent decline from the previous year.
The administration has said three of the targeted vessels departed from Venezuela, and tensions between the two countries are high as Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, has accused the United States of amplifying military operations as a precursor to an invasion intended to oust him from power.
Advertisement Advertisement
The Venezuelan government had no immediate reaction to Hegseth’s announcement.
Advertisement
In February, Trump designated eight groups as foreign terrorist organizations — six from Mexico and one from El Salvador, MS-13. One of them was Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuela-based group that Trump has said is directed by Maduro. A U.S. intelligence assessment has said that was not true, however, and experts have said that TdA is not deeply involved in narcotics trafficking.
[SRC] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/10/03/hegseth-venezuela-drug-strike/
