US deploys feared aircraft carrier to Caribbean Sea as Trump's war on drug cartels escalates
US strikes on alleged drug cartel boats have killed at least 48 people since September
The US has deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean Sea in a significant escalation amid Donald Trump’s deadly war on drug cartels.
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America’s feared USS Gerald R. Ford is making its way to the region following a series of fatal strikes on South American drug boats.
The US has launched at least 10 strikes on vessels allegedly belonging to Venezuelan and Colombian cartels since September.
The latest attack, announced today by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, killed six and brought the total death toll since strikes began to 43.
Mr Hegseth has now ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy in a bid to “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Friday.
The move marks a significant escalation amid the US' vast military build-up in the waters off Venezuela.
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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
It includes at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets, which have been seen gathered in Puerto Rico.
It comes after Donald Trump declared the US was in an "armed conflict" with cartels.
This is the same legal rationale the US previously used to target terrorist organisations, including al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Pete Hegseth said the latest attack on the Caribbean Sea targeted alleged members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organisation.
Six people, whom Hegseth called “narco-terrorists”, were killed in the operation.
The Trump administration has faced widespread criticism for launching these strikes without congressional approval.
Earlier this month, 25 Democratic senators wrote to the White House accusing it of launching strikes "without evidence that the individuals on the vessel and the vessel's cargo posed a threat to the United States."
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Trump insisted he has the authority to launch strikes without the backing of Congress.
"We're allowed to do that, and if we do (it) by land, we may go back to Congress," he said.