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WASHINGTON — The United States struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people, President Trump said on Tuesday.

Those who died in the strike were aboard the vessel, and no U.S. forces were harmed, Trump said in a social media post. It’s the fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean as Trump’s administration has asserted it’s treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the strike Tuesday morning, said Trump, who released a video of it, as he had in the past. Hegseth later shared the video in a post on X.

Trump said the strike was conducted in international waters and “Intelligence” confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with “narcoterrorist networks” and was on a known drug trafficking route.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an email from the Associated Press seeking more information on the latest boat strike.

Frustration with the Trump administration has been growing on Capitol Hill among members of both major political parties. Some Republicans are seeking more information from the White House on the legal justification and details of the strikes. Democrats contend the strikes violate U.S. and international law.

The Senate last week voted on a war powers resolution that would have barred the Trump administration from conducting the strikes unless Congress specifically authorized them, but it failed to pass.

In a memo to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press, the Trump administration said it had “determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations” and that Trump directed the Pentagon to “conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict.”

The Trump administration has yet to provide underlying evidence to lawmakers proving that the boats targeted by the U.S. military in a series of fatal strikes were in fact carrying narcotics, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The strikes followed a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean unlike any seen in recent times.

Last week, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino told military leaders that the U.S. government knows the drug-trafficking accusations used to support the recent actions in the Caribbean are false, with its true intent being to “force a regime change” in the South American country.

He added that the Venezuelan government does not see the deployment of the U.S. warships as a mere “propaganda-like action” and warned of a possible escalation.

“I want to warn the population: We have to prepare ourselves because the irrationality with which the U.S. empire operates is not normal,” Padrino said during the televised gathering. “It’s anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude, and vulgar.”

Price and Toropin write for the Associated Press. AP writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

San Francisco 49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir was arrested Thursday afternoon in South Los Angeles. He was charged with delaying and resisting a peace officer, a misdemeanor.

Another man, apparently a companion of Lenoir’s, was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm in a vehicle, which is a felony.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. on the 4500 block of South Wilton Place. Officers spotted 25-year-old Marcus Cunningham “frantically reaching” into a gray Cadillac Escalade. He then “locked the vehicle and walked away, appearing to conceal contraband.”

Cunningham threw the keys behind a gate when approached by officers, the LAPD told The Times via email, then “Lenoir retrieved the keys, refused to give them back, and passed them to an unknown male who fled.”

After additional officers located the keys on a nearby porch, the police opened the car and found “a loaded semi-automatic firearm in the center compartment, a loaded Glock in an open compartment and narcotics,” the LAPD said.

According to the L.A. County Sheriff Department’s inmate information center, Lenoir was released on his own recognizance at 1:18 a.m. Friday and is due to appear in L.A. Superior Court on July 25. No release or court information was available for Cunningham.

The 49ers released a statement Friday saying that they’re aware of the matter and “are in the process of gathering further information.”

Lenoir, a former standout at Los Angeles Salesian High who played four seasons at Oregon, was selected by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He signed a five-year, $88-million contract extension before the 2024 season.