The U.S. military, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, just took out another drug-trafficking boat in the southern seas. 

Fox News reports that War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike on Friday.

It is said to have killed the four men who were aboard the vessel.

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. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the… pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 3, 2025

Here's what happened:

Hegseth gave a rundown of the situation on social media.

He wrote:

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. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation. 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 included a video of the strike.

The Secretary of War added:

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.

"These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!" Hegseth concluded.

Background

President Trump just explained to Congress that the U.S. is in "noninternational armed conflict" with drug cartels.

The New York Times reports that Trump sent a memorandum to Congress explaining the situation.

Per the outlet:

Based upon the cumulative effects of these hostile acts against the citizens and interests of the United States and friendly foreign nations, the president determined that the United States is in a noninternational armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations.

The strike revealed by Hegseth on Friday is the latest in a series of strikes carried out by the U.S. military under Trump's leadership.

The Hill reports:

The New York Times was the first to report on the notice, which comes after the Pentagon conducted three military strikes on boats Trump has claimed were carrying drugs bound for the United States. The attacks killed all 17 people aboard the vessels — at least two of which originated from Venezuela — with the administration insisting they were lawful despite no public proof that the boats contained drugs.