Hegseth directs aircraft carrier strike group to Caribbean to help with Venezuela

War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to deploy to the Caribbean amid tensions with Venezuela.

The new deployment of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford, alongside several destroyers and a submarine, comes as the Trump administration cracks down on alleged drug smuggling operations that supposedly stem from Venezuela. 

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the strike group will be under the control of United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM).

"The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM [Area of Responsibility] 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," Parnell posted on X. "These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle [Transnational Criminal Organizations]."

The order comes the same day Hegseth said the U.S. military struck a Tren de Aragua drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean, killing six "narco-terrorists." 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.