"It was at least the fourth such extraordinary and controversial attack by US forces outside American waters in recent weeks. Hegseth, said in a social media post that he had directed the latest strike on Trump's orders. Hegseth wrote that the boat was struck in international waters off the coast of Venezuela and that an intelligence assessment had confirmed it was carrying drugs bound for the US."
"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, Hegseth said on X. Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route, Hegseth said."
A US strike in international waters off the coast of Venezuela killed four people aboard a vessel alleged to be carrying substantial quantities of narcotics bound for the United States. The strike was carried out under a presidential order, and an intelligence assessment is reported to have confirmed the vessel's involvement in narcotics trafficking on a known transit route. The action followed a US notification to Congress that the United States is entering a non-international armed conflict with drug cartels. The notification included a legal memo asserting that cartel smuggling constitutes armed attacks by non-state armed groups and was accompanied by a classified briefing.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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