US President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the US military had struck a Venezuelan drug cartel vessel that was en route to America.
Trump said three male traffickers were killed in the strike.
"This morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests."
"BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!"
Trump administration strikes drug ships in the Caribbean
The Trump administration announced at the start of the month that the US military had struck a vessel that was carrying illegal drugs.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House: "We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat."
"And there's more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time ... These came out of Venezuela," Trump said. He said the Pentagon would soon be providing further details.
An official added that the vessel was "operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization."
Reuters contributed to this report.