Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces hit a suspected drug‑running boat in international waters off Venezuela, killing four people and causing no U.S. casualties, and released strike video on social media.
• Officials say this is at least the fourth recent maritime strike, lifting the publicly reported death toll to 21 after three September attacks that targeted small boats in the Caribbean.
• Trump has notified Congress that the U.S. considers itself in a non‑international armed conflict with cartels and labels suspected traffickers "illegal combatants," asserting wartime authorities.
• Venezuelan officials condemned the operations, reported U.S. F‑35 flights near their coast, and signaled emergency measures and mobilization in response to the growing military presence.
• Legal scholars and human‑rights groups question the lawfulness of lethal strikes on civilian vessels and note that the Pentagon has provided limited verifiable evidence to support targeting claims.