Secretary of War Pete Hegseth deployed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Western Hemisphere to aid the military‘s effort to dismantle the drug cartels in Central and South America.
The Pentagon has deployed significant firepower to the region over the last couple of months amid a push to target drug cartels more aggressively. Since the start of last month, it’s believed that the military has carried out 10 strikes on alleged drug smuggling vessels, largely in the Caribbean Sea.
“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the [western hemisphere] will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Friday.
Parnell’s statement came hours after Hegseth announced the 10th U.S. strike on a vessel in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. More than 30 people have been killed in these strikes.
“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Six male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters, and was the first strike at night,” Hegseth said. “All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”
The United States has already demonstrated its firepower in the region in recent exercises.
The Air Force sent two B-1 Lancers that flew near Venezuela on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, and last week, the Air Force and Marines conducted a similar show of force with B-52 bombers and F-35B jet fighters.
There are several warships in the area, including an attack submarine, a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and an F-35 fighter squadron.
President Donald Trump has threatened to carry out strikes on Venezuelan soil and acknowledged publicly that he approved the CIA to conduct operations there as well. The deployment of the carrier group could indicate an expansion of the mission.
