Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Friday said the U.S. military struck a fourth vessel in international waters near Venezuela and killed its crew of four while they allegedly tried to smuggle illicit drugs into the United States. Photo by PO2 Aiko Bongolan/U.S. Navy | License Photo
Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military had sunk a "narco-trafficking" vessel in international waters near Venezuela early Friday morning.
Hegseth said the vessel carried four male "narco-terrorists," all of whom were killed with no harm done to U.S. forces involved 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 said in a social media post.
"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," he continued.
