The United States has carried out an attack on a vessel that, according to US President Donald Trump, was involved in illegal drug trafficking.

The operation, directed by President Trump, targeted a boat allegedly transporting substantial amounts of narcotics bound for America.

Four male “narco-terrorists” aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, according to US officials.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on X that the strike occurred Friday morning on a “narco-trafficking vessel” that U.S. indicated was affiliated with a designated terrorist organization in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

“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.

Hegseth confirmed the strike was carried out in international waters, just off the coast of Venezuela.

“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,” the US Secretary of War noted, adding that “these strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over.”

Hegseth disclosed the strike Friday afternoon in a social media post on X that included a video showing the attack.

“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,” he added.

In a video Hegseth posted on Friday, a boat is seen in the sea before being hit, triggering a plume of black smoke.

Trump posted the same video on his Truth Social platform, saying that “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.”

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has condemned the US strike on a boat in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela on October 3 that killed four people.

In a phone call to his Venezuelan counterpart, Yván Gil Pinto, on Sunday, Russian foreign minister stated that Moscow strongly condemns the strike delivered by the US armed forces on a vessel in international waters off Venezuela.

“Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Yván Gil Pinto of Venezuela expressed serious concern about Washington’s escalating actions in the Caribbean Sea,” the Russian foreign ministry said after their phone call.

Last month, the U.S. forces carried out another strike against a vessel affiliated with a designated terrorist organization accused of conducting narcotrafficking in the US Southern Command area of responsibility. The strike killed three male “narcoterrorists” onboard. According to the president, no US forces were harmed during the operation.