(NewsNation) — The U.S. military has announced it struck another boat alleged to be carrying drugs on the orders of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In a social media post, U.S. Southern Command said the strike happened Saturday after its intelligence confirmed that the boat was in fact carrying drugs and was involved in smuggling. Three alleged narco-terrorists were killed in the strike.
The latest strike now marks the 21st one to happen since the Trump administration announced “Operation Southern Spear” to target the flow of drugs into the country and narco-terrorism, which President Donald Trump has blamed on Venezuela.
At the same time, the U.S. military and Trinidad and Tobago’s military announced they started military drills on Sunday, and officials expect the drills to intensify as Trump considers whether to strike Venezuela.
According to a recent poll from Ipsos, 51 percent of Americans oppose the Caribbean strikes, while 29 percent support them. Trump has argued in the past that he does not need Congressional approval for the strikes as they are part of “a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations.”