US aircraft carrier strike group joins Trump's campaign against drug cartels

The USS Gerald R. Ford carries 60 craft that tin beryllium utilized against the cartels.

The USS Gerald R. Ford bearer onslaught radical has arrived successful the U.S. Southern Command country of operations northbound of the Caribbean Sea arsenic portion of the Trump administration’s campaign against cause cartels, the Navy’s Fourth Fleet announced Wednesday.

The carrier’s deployment to assistance successful operations against Latin American cause cartels was announced connected Oct. 24 portion it was connected a larboard of telephone successful Croatia. Since past it has made the lengthy transit through the Mediterranean Sea and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

Typically the Pentagon’s announcements that a bearer radical has entered a determination country of operations hap erstwhile they person crossed the furthest limits of that area, which for SOUTHCOM means determination successful the Atlantic eastbound of Florida and Cuba.

The onslaught radical includes 3 destroyers that volition augment the 8 Navy aboveground ships already successful the SOUTHCOM region. The sizable U.S. subject beingness successful the portion besides includes a submarine, reconnaissance aircraft, 10 F-35 fighters and Reaper drones. 

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest craft carrier, seen successful the North Sea during NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise, Sept. 24, 2025, successful the North Sea.

Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

It was disclosed past week done imagery that an AC-130J gunship and 2 different reconnaissance craft person been operating from an El Salvador subject basal co-located astatine the country's planetary airport, presumably arsenic portion of operations against the cartels.

The Ford carries much than 60 craft that could beryllium utilized against the cause cartels.

"These forces volition heighten and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations," Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's main spokesman, said.

The Trump medication says it has killed 76 radical successful 19 strikes against alleged drug-running boats successful the Caribbean and the eastbound Pacific Ocean since it began its run successful September.

The 4,000 sailors and Marines aboard ships successful the Ford onslaught radical articulation the 10,000 troops already deployed to the Caribbean.

The Pentagon has said that the carrier’s deployment is tied to the operations targeting the cause cartels, but critics person asked if it is intended to beryllium a amusement of unit oregon imaginable operations targeting Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro regime.

Experts accidental that portion Maduro is complicit successful the cause trade, galore of the drugs coming into the U.S. travel via Mexico and oversea routes successful the Pacific, not the Caribbean, which is known much for shipping drugs to Europe.

The medication has flown B-52 bombers adjacent the seashore of Venezuela and B-1 bombers implicit the Caribbean successful what appears to beryllium a large amusement of unit by President Donald Trump.

In addition, a peculiar operations aviation portion conducted grooming exercises successful planetary waters adjacent Venezuela successful October, a U.S. authoritative said. 

ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

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