WASHINGTON

The US carried out another strike on Friday to target "a narco-trafficking vessel" off the coast of Venezuela, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.

"Earlier this morning, on President (Donald) Trump's orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM (US Southern Command) 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," Hegseth said on the US social media company X.

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.

This was the fourth strike that the US carried out in recent weeks, targeting vessels allegedly carrying illegal drugs.

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

President Donald Trump said the strike prevented a massive shipment of deadly narcotics from reaching the US.

"A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25,000 to 50,000 people was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory," Trump said on Truth Social.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Friday that Trump has directed these strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels consistent with his responsibility to protect the US interests abroad and in furtherance of the US national security and foreign policy entrance.

When asked whether Trump declared war on international drug cartels and he needs congressional approval, Leavitt said this is "pursuant" to his constitutional authority as commander in chief and the chief executive to conduct foreign relations.

"And each of these cases, the vessels have been assessed by the US intelligence community to be affiliated with designated terrorist organizations engaged, at the time in trafficking illicit drugs to our country," she said.

Tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have recently escalated after the US deployed a naval group to the southern Caribbean. The US claims the force is there to combat criminal cartels and drug trafficking.

The US is also seeking a $50 million reward for Maduro's arrest.