Trump announces third US military strike on alleged drug-smuggling vessel

President Donald Trump said Friday the US military has carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month.

Trump in a social media posting said the strike killed three and was carried out against a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

He did not provide more precise details about the location of the strike, and the White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans, Trump said in the post.

The US twice this month carried out strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels that had originated from Venezuela.