WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States had attacked a vessel he said was carrying drugs in the U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility, the latest U.S. strike in the region.
The latest strike - at least the third against alleged drug vessels - comes amid a large U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean. Five F-35 aircraft were seen landing in Puerto Rico on Saturday after the Trump administration ordered 10 of the stealth fighters to join the buildup.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Pentagon carried out the strike on his orders, killing "3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel."
"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans."
Trump did not specify where the vessel departed from or where the strike took place.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is the U.S. military's combatant command that encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean.
In addition to the F-35s, there are also at least seven U.S. warships in the region, along with one nuclear-powered submarine.
The Trump administration has provided scant information about the first two strikes, despite demands from U.S. lawmakers that the government justify the action. Trump said the first strike, on September 2, struck a vessel allegedly carrying members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The Venezuelan government, which says it has deployed tens of thousands of troops to fight drug trafficking and defend the country, has said none of the people killed in the first strike belonged to Tren de Aragua.
President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly alleged the U.S. is hoping to drive him from power. Washington last month doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups, which he denies.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Kanishka Singh in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Leslie Adler and William Mallard)