President Trump has announced that the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group will be deployed to assist in ongoing anti-drug smuggling operations in the Caribbean.
The Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Friday:
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 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 continued. "These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs."
USSOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility covers Latin America south of Mexico, along with the surrounding waters off the coast of Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea.
The USS Gerald Ford is the largest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the world. Its strike group will include Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill, and USS Bainbridge.
The United States has been engaged in non-international armed conflict with the South American drug cartels, according to the Trump administration. As of Friday, the U.S. military has completed 10 lethal strikes on narco terrorists in the Caribbean. The most recent of which was Thursday night. The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth announced on X, "Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea."
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"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. All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike. If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you."
Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 24, 2025
The vessel was known by our… pic.twitter.com/lVlw0FLBv4
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