The Pentagon is sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the U.S. Southern Command region, expanding the military’s crackdown on suspected drug trafficking out of Latin America.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the move on X Friday, saying it follows the president’s directive to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism.” The decision signals a renewed push to use U.S. naval power to confront smuggling networks that officials say threaten homeland security.
Parnell said the enhanced presence will reinforce ongoing missions to intercept narcotics shipments and degrade organized crime groups operating across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The move follows a wave of U.S. strikes since early September targeting suspected drug traffickers, many of them from Venezuela. In the most recent overnight strike Thursday, U.S. forces hit an alleged Tren de Aragua vessel in the Caribbean, killing six suspected traffickers, Hegseth said on X.
At least 43 people have been killed in the strikes so far.
The Trump administration is also ramping up its actions within Venezuela: Last week, Trump confirmed covert U.S. operations against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Trump on Thursday defended his authority to strike alleged drug traffickers without congressional approval, saying he does not need such approval to act, even as lawmakers question the legality and evidence behind the operations.
“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just doing to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead.”
Trump said his actions are needed to protect Americans.
“Every boat that we knock out we save 25,000 American lives, so every time you see a boat and you feel badly you say, ‘Wow, that’s rough.’ It is rough, but if you lose three people and save 25,000 people,” Trump said.
Critics of the strikes say they’re extrajudicial killings and note that the administration struck vessels without trying to interdict them first. The administration has not released evidence that all of the people killed were smuggling drugs.
Maduro called for peace Thursday, pleading “No crazy war, please!” He accused the Trump administration of using drug trafficking as cover for regime change.
This article has been updated with additional information.