WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military on Wednesday sank one more alleged drug boat in international waters in the eastern Pacific, killing four men, the U.S. Southern Command said.

The vessel was operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations and U.S. intelligence confirmed that it "was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," said the command in a post on X.

"A total of four male narco-terrorists were killed, and no U.S. military forces were harmed," the post said.

The strike was conducted at the direction of U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth, said the post, with no evidence offered.

Since early September, the Pentagon has sunk more than 26 alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 99 people aboard.

In recent weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. military would begin land strikes targeting drug traffickers in the Caribbean "very soon," escalating tension between the United States and Venezuela.

The Trump administration last week seized an oil tanker near the coast of Venezuela and announced new sanctions on four Venezuelans and six companies shipping oil from Venezuela.

For almost four months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to combat drug trafficking -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as a thinly veiled attempt to bring about regime change in Caracas. Enditem