In a Friday post on the social media platform X, Hegseth shared a video of the attack, which he identified as taking place near the coast of Venezuela.
The footage shows a small, narrow boat clipping across the waves before the air strike halts its momentum, leaving the vessel engulfed in flames.
Hegseth explained he directed the attack. “Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation,” he wrote.
“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 claimed.
The latest attack follows three similar US air strikes last month, the first of which took place on September 2. Eleven people were killed in that initial attack. A second and third strike — on September 15 and 19 respectively — killed three people a piece.
In each case, the administration of President Donald Trump has argued that the boats’ occupants were narcotics traffickers headed to the US, though no evidence has been provided for those assertions and the suspects have not yet been identified.
MNA/