US Secretary of War Announces Fourth Strike on Drug Boat off Venezuela in International Waters.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Oct. 3, 2025, that U.S. forces carried out a fourth strike on a small boat in international waters off Venezuela, killing four people and alleging the vessel was smuggling narcotics. The move extends the administration’s campaign against drug cartels/ “narco-terrorists” in the U.S. Southern Command region and raises legal and regional tensions.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed a U.S. “lethal, kinetic strike” against a small craft in international waters off Venezuela on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, acting on President Donald Trump’s orders. The post on X included video of the attack and said four men aboard, described as “narco-terrorists”, were killed while transporting substantial narcotics toward the United States within U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility. It matters because the operation marks the fourth deadly strike in a new maritime interdiction campaign that the administration argues deteriorates drug flows, but critics say risks escalating and legal challenges.
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Screenshot from the video released by the U.S. Secretary of War, showing the strike on a boat suspected of narcotrafficking in international waters off Venezuela (Picture source: X channel @SecWar)

The platform responsible for the strike was not identified. Officials had previously suggested that aerial imagery released after earlier incidents could correspond either to a remotely piloted aircraft or to a helicopter operating from a maritime staging area. An earlier account, citing a senior U.S. official, noted that a previous engagement had been carried out by an MQ-9 Reaper or an attack helicopter. That hypothesis aligns with the short video clip released this time, which shows a fast craft destroyed by a single precise strike. The department has not provided further technical details, although the method and the geography point to a persistent airborne surveillance and strike setup informed by intelligence on Caribbean Sea lanes.

If an MQ-9 Reaper was used, its usual armament for maritime interdiction matches what the video suggests. The Reaper typically carries the AGM-114 Hellfire, a laser-guided missile suited to small moving targets, and it can also employ guided bombs from the GBU-12 Paveway II or GBU-38/54 JDAM families when weather and targeting conditions allow. Its sensor turret combines electro-optical and infrared cameras with a laser designator, and the platform can remain on station for extended periods to establish patterns of activity, maintain contact with a suspect boat, and wait for positive identification before release. In countertrafficking missions, Reapers have also used surface-search radar modes and datalinks to coordinate with patrol aircraft and surface vessels. Together, these features allow detection of a fast craft, continuity of tracking, and engagement once legal and targeting thresholds are met. Authorities have not confirmed this configuration for the latest strike.

Another possibility would be an attack helicopter deployed from a U.S. ship or a regional airfield. In that case, the most likely weapon would again be Hellfire, possibly guided by the helicopter’s own laser or by another asset providing designation. Rotary-wing platforms offer a flexible option when the target appears near friendly maritime forces and conditions favor a shorter-range shooter. They also allow rapid reattack and visual confirmation at low altitude, with the tradeoff of reduced endurance. In both cases, the aim is to stop a small, fast boat decisively with a precision munition while limiting risk to other shipping in busy international waters.

The U.S. administration presents these actions as a series of targeted strikes against groups linked to cartels and officially designated as terrorist organizations. Since the first announcement in early September, several engagements at sea have occurred that have targeted narcotraffickers’ vessels exclusively. The government frames the approach as preventive, arguing that boats traveling along known trafficking routes pose an imminent threat to Americans and that interdiction at sea is both lawful and necessary.

The tactical picture relies on layered intelligence. Authorities explain that these craft follow established corridors from Venezuelan coasts and nearby islands into the Caribbean, sometimes skirting the boundary between territorial seas and the high seas to complicate pursuit. Endurance platforms track targets from initial detection through the terminal phase. In practical terms, this requires long on-station times, data from multiple sensors, and coordination with agencies responsible for maritime law enforcement, even when the outcome is not visit-and-search but a military strike. The emphasis on international waters reflects both navigational realities and legal calculation, because conditions for hot pursuit or coastal state consent are not always present.

The legal and political debate remains active. The White House has notified Congress that the United States is engaged in a form of non-international armed conflict against designated cartel entities, using that framing to justify the use of force under the law of armed conflict. Lawmakers and legal scholars contest both this characterization and the level of transparency regarding evidence connecting specific individuals on board to terrorist activity, warning about the risk of extrajudicial killings and escalation with regional governments. Human rights organizations have voiced similar concerns after previous strikes. Venezuelan authorities have condemned the actions and accused Washington of preparing for a broader confrontation, while neighboring capitals remain cautious, torn between their own challenges with cartels and the risks of a precedent that normalizes air-delivered force at sea in peacetime.

U.S. commanders rely on assets that combine surveillance with precision strike in a maritime setting. Whether a Reaper is orbiting under SOUTHCOM tasking or a helicopter is launched from a deck, the intended effect is similar. The munition is low-yield, the firing window is tight, and the political message is clear. After Friday’s announcement, Hegseth repeated that operations would continue until, in his words, attacks on the American people end. Given the pace observed since early September and statements from senior officials, further interdictions at sea are likely, with the executive branch maintaining that each case rests on substantiated intelligence and fits within its declared wartime posture against designated groups.