The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier Strike Group to the Western Hemisphere, as it continues to strike suspected drug trafficking ships in the Caribbean.
"In support of the President's directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and combat narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and the carrier's aircraft carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR)," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Friday.
"The increased presence of U.S. forces in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will strengthen the U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the security and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere," he added. "These forces will augment and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs," he added.
For several days now, it has been reported that the US is investing in covert operations to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro, whom Trump calls the "narco-terrorist dictator" of Venezuela.
United States Navy Carrier Strike Group Twelfth (CSG-12 or CARSTRKGRU 12) is one of four United States Navy carrier strike groups currently assigned to the United States Fleet Forces Command. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is the designated lead ship of the strike group. Units currently assigned to Carrier Strike Group Twelfth include the carrier Wing Eight, the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60), and Destroyer Squadron 2.