CARACAS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Latin American regional bloc of 10 member states on Friday condemned "the recent illegal incursion of U.S. combat aircraft" detected near the Venezuelan coast.

The incursion, detected only 75 km off the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, has drawn criticism from Venezuela.

"This act constitutes a serious provocation that undermines national sovereignty and represents a direct violation of international law, putting at risk the peace and stability of the entire region," the bloc, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty, said in a statement.

These maneuvers of military harassment violate the fundamental principles of peaceful coexistence between states and seek to generate tension, fear and destabilization in Latin America and the Caribbean, it said.

The Alliance warned that "these types of actions not only affect a member State, but also compromise civil and commercial air safety in the Caribbean, creating unacceptable risks for the peoples of the region."

On Friday, Venezuela complained to the United Nations regarding the U.S. incursion.

Also on Friday, U.S. forces killed four people in an attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela that was allegedly trafficking drugs, BBC news reported, noting that Friday's attack is the fourth by the United States in a month.

"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," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

U.S. media reported U.S. President Donald Trump notified Congress on Thursday that his administration has determined that members of drug cartels are "unlawful combatants" with which the United States is engaged in "non-international armed conflict." ■