US sends Ford carrier attack group to fight Western Hemisphere narcoterrorism
According to the Pentagon, War Secretary Pete Hegseth sends the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to US Southern Command.
As the United States continues to target suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, the Trump administration has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to be deployed in the Western Hemisphere.
“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),” the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a on 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 stated. “These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.”
The Caribbean Sea, the waters bordering Central and South America, and the landmass of Latin America south of Mexico are all under the jurisdiction of USSOUTHCOM.
The strike group consists of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill, and USS Bainbridge, as well as the USS Gerald R. Ford, which the U.S. Navy claims is the largest aircraft carrier in the world.
In an effort to disrupt and dismantle the drug cartels in the Caribbean, the Trump administration has ordered several strikes.
Most recently, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that six suspected narco-terrorists were murdered in an attack on a ship that was purportedly run by suspected members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a street gang in Venezuela that was designated a DTO.
“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat al-Qaeda,” Hegseth stated on X. “Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”
Since Trump took office again, it was the eighth strike against suspected drug trafficking vessels. The president has made addressing the country’s drug problem a top priority for policy.
As he tries to put further pressure on the Maduro dictatorship, Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of being a head of a drug gang.
Trump acknowledged last week that he gave the CIA permission to carry out secret operations in Venezuela, citing the South American country’s release of detainees and the fact that drugs were entering the country from Venezuela via maritime routes.
As concerns over the legitimacy of the military operations rage, they have drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.
Recently, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., presented a war powers resolution that would forbid the use of American military forces in “hostilities” against Venezuela.
