US forces have taken out an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

US forces have killed three men in what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called a strike on a drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean Sea.

The attack was the latest in a series of US strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific that killed at least 18 people earlier this week. President Donald Trump has said the campaign aims to cull drug-smuggling operations from Venezuela and Colombia - accusations both countries have denied.

"The Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike" on a boat in international waters in the Caribbean on Sunday, Hegseth wrote on X. He claimed that the vessel was operated by members of a "Designated Terrorist Organization," without providing evidence.

All three "narco-terrorists" aboard were killed, he wrote, adding that the US will continue to hunt down and kill alleged drug smugglers.

Since the outset of Trump's anti-cartel operation in the region, the US has amassed around 16,000 troops in the eastern Caribbean near Venezuela, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Eight US Navy warships, a special operations vessel, and a nuclear-powered attack submarine are reportedly already in the region, with an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford expected to reinforce the armada next week.

Last month, Trump said he authorized CIA operations on Venezuelan soil, claiming they would target "drugs coming in" from the Latin American country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has dismissed the accusations, accusing Trump of preparing a regime-change operation and resource grab.

"Venezuela is innocent," he said in Caracas on Friday. "Imperialism is only seeking to justify a war to steal our riches and bring about regime change."

UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Friday condemned the deadly US strikes in the region, calling them "unacceptable," and urged it to halt the "extrajudicial killing."

Russia, which ratified a strategic partnership with Venezuela this week, has expressed its "strong support for the Venezuelan leadership in defending national sovereignty."

"The root of the US' drug problem" is in the US, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday, urging America to tackle the problem on its own soil.

(RT.com)