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The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Western Hemisphere as the U.S. continues to target suspected drug smuggling vessels 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 embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR),” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Friday.
“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR 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,” he added. “These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.”
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USSOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility includes the land mass 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 world’s largest aircraft carrier, according to the U.S. Navy, as well as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Bainbridge.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is currently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea along with three destroyers. It would likely take several days for the ships to make the journey to South America. In August, the strike group transited the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel.
The deployment would mean there will be no U.S. aircraft carriers in the Middle East for the first time in years.
The Trump administration has ordered a number of strikes in the Caribbean aimed at dismantling and disrupting drug cartels in the region.
Most recently, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that a strike on a vessel allegedly operated by suspected members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuelan street gang deemed a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), killed six alleged narco-terrorists.
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“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat al-Qaeda,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”
It marked the 10th strike targeting suspected drug trafficking boats since Trump returned to office. The president has made combating the nation’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 authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, saying he did so because the South American nation has released prisoners into the U.S. and that drugs were coming into the U.S. from Venezuela through sea routes.
Meanwhile, the military strikes have attracted scrutiny from both sides of the aisle as questions swirl about their legality.
Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently introduced a war powers resolution that would prohibit U.S. armed forces from participating in “hostilities” against Venezuela.
Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Fox News’ Gillian Turner, Jennifer Griffin and James Levinson contributed to this report.
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