The US military on Thursday destroyed two more suspected drug-trafficking vessels in international waters in the eastern Pacific, killing five people aboard, the US Southern Command said.

"On Dec. 18, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters," said the command in a press release.

"A total of five male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions -- three in the first vessel and two in the second vessel," it said.

The command added that intelligence had confirmed that both boats were involved in narco-trafficking operations.

The Pentagon has sunk more than 28 alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing at least 104 people aboard.

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