The boat carrying the 11 alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers who were killed in a lethal strike by the US last week reportedly turned around before it was struck and destroyed by a US military aircraft in the southern Caribbean Sea.

The New York Times today reported that American officials familiar with the case indicated that the vessel had altered its course and turned around just before the attack was carried out. The men on board had seen the military aircraft trailing it, the report states.

According to the report, officials who spoke to the New York Times anonymously, said the military had hit the vessel repeatedly before it sank to the bottom of the ocean.