The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Western Hemisphere as the US continues to target suspected drug smuggling ships in the Caribbean.
“In support of the President’s directive to dismantle transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and deployed an aircraft carrier to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR),” said the chief spokesperson for the U.S. Pentagon chief Sean Parnell said in a statement Friday.
“The increased U.S. military presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will strengthen the U.S. ability to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” he added. “These forces will enhance and expand existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.”
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An aerial view of the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower together in the eastern Mediterranean. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is assigned to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility. (USNavy Janae Chambers/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
USSOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility includes the landmass of Latin America south of Mexico, the waters adjacent to Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea.
The strike group includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world according to the US Navy, as well as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Bainbridge.
In August the strike group passed through the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel.
The Trump administration has ordered a number of strikes in the Caribbean aimed at dismantling and disrupting drug cartels in the region.
Most recently, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that an attack on a ship allegedly operated by suspected members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuelan street gang considered a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), left six suspected narco-terrorists dead.
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US strikes on drug boats near Venezuelan waters could be aimed at taking out Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. (@realDonald Trump/Truth Social; Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs into our hemisphere, we will treat you as we treat Al-Qaeda,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Day or NIGHT we will map your networks, track down your people, hunt you down and kill you.”
It was the tenth attack on suspected drug trafficking boats since Trump returned to office. The president has made combating the country’s drug crisis a central policy focus.
Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of being a drug cartel leader as he continues to increase pressure on the Maduro regime.
Last week, Trump confirmed that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. He said he did this because the South American nation has released prisoners into the US and that drugs from Venezuela were entering the US via sea routes.
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In the meantime, the military attacks have taken place attracted attention on both sides of the aisle, as questions swirl about its legality.
Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently introduced a war powers resolution that would ban U.S. military forces from engaging in “hostilities” against Venezuela.
