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According to American defense chief Pete Hegseth, a US strike killed four individuals in an operation targeting a boat suspected of transporting illegal drugs offshore close to the Venezuelan coast.

This action occurred shortly after US officials informed Congress regarding the US was entering a "non-international armed conflict" against drug cartels.

This marks at least the fourth unprecedented and controversial operation by US forces beyond US territorial waters over the past month.

Specifics of the Strike

The defense secretary stated that the vessel was targeted as it was carrying large quantities of illegal drugs destined for the United States, posing a threat to public health.

“Intelligence assessments definitively verified the vessel’s involvement in drug trafficking, identifying those aboard as narco-terrorists using established smuggling routes,” Hegseth said in a social media post.

The defense secretary also claimed that the boat had links to Designated Terrorist Organizations, a classification applied in a confidential memo sent to lawmakers.

Juridical and Political Background

The Trump administration has informed the legislative branch that it considers drug trafficking organizations as “non-state armed groups” and their actions in narcotics trafficking “constitute an armed attack” on the US.

The memo was accompanied by a secret session for members from the Senate defense panel, held earlier this week.

Administration officials have sought to justify these operations by citing the president’s constitutional authority, permitting military action in self-defense in limited engagements.

Previous Operations and Global Reaction

Before the latest incident, American military had conducted attacks on three boats in the Caribbean, resulting in 17 fatalities and sparking widespread international outrage.

The defense secretary reiterated that such operations “will continue” until “the attacks on the American people are over”.

Governmental Changes and Supervision

Officials have allegedly strengthened a White House security body to function as an independent entity inside the administration, a shift unlike prior governments where it reported to the security chief.

This restructuring affected the coordination and implementation of such strikes, as certain authorities being informed about operations only hours before their execution.

Regardless of official assertions, legal experts have noted that labeling cartels as foreign terrorist organizations does not provide extra powers to employ deadly action without concrete evidence linking them to a foreign government.

To date, the administration has yet to offer proof concerning the alleged infiltration by cartels into Venezuela's regime.