WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US forces carried out a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela on Friday, killing four people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

The latest strike, which Hegseth announced in a post on X, brings the number of such US attacks to at least four, leaving at least 21 people dead.

An accompanying video shared by Hegseth showed a boat speeding across the waves before being engulfed in smoke and flames.

“Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed,” the Pentagon chief wrote.

He said 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.”

“These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!” he added.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and some of his allies in the region condemned the attack.

The latest military action comes after President Donald Trump’s administration said in a notice to Congress that he has determined the US is engaged in “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Washington has not released evidence to support its assertion that the targets of its strikes are drug smugglers, and experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed narcotics traffickers.

The administration’s letter, a copy of which was obtained by Agence France-Presse on Thursday, was designed as a legal justification for at least three previous strikes.

“The president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States,” said the notice from the Pentagon, which also described suspected smugglers as “unlawful combatants.”