The Venezuelan government has announced that a US destroyer intercepted, boarded and occupied a Venezuelan tuna fishing vessel for eight hours in the waters of the South American country's Special Economic Zone on Friday.

In a statement read by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on Saturday, the government stated that the tuna vessel was boarded in an illegal and hostile manner, and that it was crewed by nine "humble" fishermen and was "harmless."

The Venezuelan government identified the US vessel as the USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), "equipped with powerful cruise missiles and manned by highly specialised marines."

It demanded that the US immediately cease targeting vessels, which it said puts "the security and peace of the Caribbean at risk."

The Trump administration has claimed without evidence that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is leading a cartel to flood the US with drugs, and doubled the reward for his capture from $25 million to $50 million.

The US government has given no indication that it plans to carry out a ground incursion with the more than 4,000 troops being deployed in the area.