President Donald Trump said the strike was carried out in international waters near Venezuela on Tuesday morning using a kinetic strike against the vessel upon an order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narco-terrorist networks and was transiting along a known [designated terrorist organization] route," Trump said Tuesday afternoon in a Truth Social post.
The president did not say where the suspected drug vessel originated.
Six male "narco-terrorists" were killed in the strike, and no U.S. military personnel were harmed during the action, Trump said.
The president posted a 33-second video showing a vessel in the crosshairs of an aerial vehicle. It showed a boat engulfed in a ball of flames upon contact by the munition used to destroy it.
The attack raises to 27 the number of people killed in the strikes on the alleged drug boats.
Trump in September notified several congressional committees of the armed conflict between the United States and drug cartels, which the president has designated as terrorist organizations.
The strikes began on Sept. 2 and have taken no prisoners while using lethal force in a manner that no other presidential administration has OK'd until now.
The Trump administration says such attacks are legal because they target "unlawful combatants" who are "trying to bring deadly poison to our shores," said Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, in September.
The administration has not provided any legal analysis to support its position, though, according to The New York Times.
Critics argue the U.S. military cannot target non-combatants who are not engaged in direct hostilities against the United States or its people.
They say the U.S. Coast Guard should intercept and detain suspected drug smugglers, instead.
Tuesday's strike against the vessel likely will raise tensions between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the United States, according to CNN.
Trump has accused Maduro of profiting from the smuggling to and distribution of illicit drugs in the United States, and his administration is offering a $50 million bounty leading to his arrest.
Maduro has threatened to mobilize the Venezuelan military and declared a state of emergency in case of a direct attack by U.S. forces.
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