FROM THE HILL: The Pentagon is sending the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, and its carrier air wing to the Caribbean as the Trump administration conducts strikes against boats it says are smuggling illegal drugs in the region.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Friday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which was deployed in the Mediterranean, to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to help “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland.”
Parnell wrote in a statement:
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. These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.
STATEMENT:
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.…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) October 24, 2025
BREAKING: The U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier to Latin America, the Pentagon says, in a major buildup in the region. https://t.co/4F1Aa0kjfq
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 24, 2025
BOOM! U.S. military conducts strike on another drug-smuggling vessel
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