Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has previously condemned the strikes and said his country will defend itself against US “aggression”.
Trump’s post on Friday evening mirrored previous announcements of such strikes. It featured a video showing the boat travelling on a body of water, and seconds later it explodes and bursts into flames.
“On my Orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump said.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans,” he wrote.
“”No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!”
Legal experts previously told the BBC that the fatal strike on the first vessel in international waters may have violated international human rights and maritime law.