President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. military has conducted its third fatal strike against an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month. In a social media post, Trump stated that the latest strike resulted in the deaths of three individuals and targeted a vessel “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”

Details regarding the specific location of the strike were not disclosed. The Pentagon referred inquiries about the strike to the White House, which did not respond to requests for further information. Trump claimed that intelligence confirmed the vessel was involved in trafficking illicit narcotics and was traveling along a known narcotrafficking route intended to harm Americans.

In his post, Trump shared a video showing the vessel speeding through the water before being struck by missiles, resulting in a fiery explosion. White House communications director Steven Cheung commented on social media, stating, “It was at this moment, the narcoterrorists knew they screwed up.”

Earlier in the week, Trump had announced a military strike on a boat allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela, which also resulted in three fatalities. This followed a September 2 strike on a speedboat that the Trump administration claimed was carrying drugs, which killed 11 people. Trump asserted that the speedboat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. earlier this year.

The Trump administration has defended these military actions as necessary measures to combat the influx of drugs into the United States. However, the legality of these strikes has been questioned by several senators, both Democrats and Republicans, as well as human rights organizations. Critics argue that the use of military force for law enforcement purposes may represent an overreach of executive authority.

National security officials informed Congress that the first vessel targeted was fired upon multiple times after it changed course and appeared to be returning to shore. The recent strikes coincide with an increase in U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean, indicating a significant shift in the U.S. approach to combating drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.

In Venezuela, speculation has arisen regarding whether these strikes are part of a broader strategy to undermine President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro has suggested that the U.S. is using drug trafficking allegations as a pretext for military operations aimed at regime change. He previously claimed that a U.S. video released by Trump was fabricated using artificial intelligence and that a vessel of that size could not operate in open waters.