WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the U.S. military carried out another attack on a ship in the Pacific that it said was carrying drugs, killing all four people aboard the vessel.
Hegseth said on social media that intelligence agencies had determined that the ship was following a “known drug trafficking route and was transporting drugs.” He indicated that the attack was carried out in international waters.
Video posted by Hegseth shows the boat exploding in flames.
The US military has been attacking ships in South American waters for almost two months, building up naval forces in the region. That has fueled speculation that the moves are aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States has accused of narco-terrorism.
The United States has not provided evidence to support its allegations regarding the ships that attacked it, their connection to drug trafficking, or the identities of the people killed in the attacks.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor using a generative artificial intelligence tool.
