In a post on social media platform X on Friday, Hegseth shared a video of the attack.
The footage shows the air cutting out a small, narrow boat across the waves before it hits.
Heggs explained that he oversaw the attack. “Four male drug terrorists on the ship were killed on strike and the surgery did not harm the US troops,” he wrote.
“The strike took place in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, and the ship was transporting a significant amount of drugs.
The latest attack followed three similar US attacks last month, first on September 2nd. Eleven people were killed in that first attack. The second and third strikes (15th and 19th September, respectively) killed three people.
In both cases, President Donald Trump’s management claims that boat residents are drug traffickers headed to the US, but no evidence has been provided for those claims and no suspects have been identified.
MNA/