President Donald Trump has confirmed that the U.S. military recently conducted a strike on a ship off the Venezuelan coast.

The President stated that intelligence confirmed the vessel was involved in narcotics trafficking, had connections to illegal narcoterrorist networks, and was traveling along a known route used by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO). He added that the strike occurred in international waters and resulted in six fatalities.

Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared grainy footage of the strike on social media, which shows a small vessel being engulfed in flames following the airstrike.

The U.S. has now killed a total of 27 individuals in a series of strikes on such vessels since the beginning of September.

Tuesday’s strike marks the fifth instance of this type, with the Trump Administration accusing all targeted vessels of transporting narcotics destined for the U.S. In September, 17 people died in three separate incidents.

On October 3, Hegseth confirmed another strike onboard, in a post on X, stating, “The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics – headed to America to poison our people.”

The Pentagon has yet to provide evidence that the boats were carrying narcotics or linked to terrorist organizations for any of the strikes, leading some to argue that the attacks violate both U.S. and international law.

TIME has contacted the Department of War and the U.S. Navy for their comments.

Trump asserted that the targeted vessel was “positively identified” as belonging to the Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua, which he claims operates under the direction of President Nicolas Maduro.

It has been noted that the cartel would need to be actively at war with the U.S. for military action against it to be justified. The Trump Administration has since notified Congress that the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with the DTOs targeted in the Caribbean in recent weeks.

This notice determines that those aboard the struck vessels are “unlawful combatants,” thus authorizing the Department of War to strike these vessels.

Sources indicate that several members of Congress, from both Republican and Democrat parties, are increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of information and the Administration’s strategy concerning these strikes.

Lawmakers are reportedly displeased with briefings on the strikes, which have failed to clarify the legal justification for the actions, and with the Pentagon’s refusal to release unedited video footage of the incidents.

The latest strike occurs as the State Department continues to offer a reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro. The reward was increased to $25 million in August, with the State Department accusing Maduro of leading and supporting Venezuelan cartels. Maduro’s political opponent was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 10 for her democracy advocacy in Venezuela.

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