WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday he ordered another strike on a small boat accused of carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela, marking the fourth deadly U.S. operation in the Caribbean since President Donald Trump declared an “armed conflict” with cartels.

Hegseth said intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics and crewed by “narco-terrorists” operating on a known smuggling route.

The strike Friday morning killed four men, though no details were provided about their identities or cartel affiliation.

Trump wrote on social media that the boat was “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE” and suggested it was approaching U.S. territory.

The latest strike raises the death toll from the operations to 21 people. Trump has previously said the first strike targeted members of the Tren de Aragua cartel, but subsequent operations — including Friday’s — have not identified which groups were hit.

The Trump administration has designated several Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Pentagon officials, however, have not released a clear list of the groups at the center of the conflict.

Video of the strike showed a small boat in open water exploding into flames, then floating motionless and burning.

Three of the four operations have been carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela, following a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that has included eight Navy warships with more than 5,000 sailors and Marines.

Pentagon officials declined to provide additional details, referring back to Hegseth’s social media post. — Agencies