“As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their the poisoning of the American people stops,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on X.

The post included declassified footage of a boat underway before it was struck and exploded.

“Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization,” Mr Hegseth continued.

“The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters. “No US forces were harmed in the strike, and three male narco-terrorists – who were aboard the vessel – were killed.”

Mr Hegseth shared video that showed the boat underway before it was struck. Picture: Supplied

Mr Hegseth said the strikes would continue until the ‘poisoning of the American people stops’. Picture: Mandel Ngan/AFP

He then sent a warning to “all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland”.

“If you keep trafficking deadly drugs – we will kill you.”

The US military has so far killed 70 people and destroyed 18 boats in a campaign aimed at stopping the flow of drugs into the country.

The controversial strategy has involved US navy ships being deployed to the Caribbean, and strikes have targeted boats in both the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

Experts say the attacks, which began in early September, amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers. The US has yet to provide public evidence of narcotics on any of the targeted boats, or of their association with drug cartels.

The United Nations has urged Washington to halt its strikes.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said these people had been killed “in circumstances that find no justification in international law”.

The strikes ordered by Donald Trump have drawn global criticism. Picture: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

“These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable,” he said in a statement.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro – who faces indictment on drug charges in the United States – accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for “imposing regime change” in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil.

But Mr Trump has said he was not considering strikes against Venezuela, dialling back previous posturing.

Mr Maduro insists there is no drug cultivation in Venezuela, which he says is used as a trafficking route for Colombian cocaine against its will.

The Trump administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as terrorist groups as part of its justification for the strikes.