US bolsters military presence in Caribbean near Venezuela amid Trump's efforts to halt drug trafficking

11 alleged Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists killed in US strike

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin reports the latest on the strike in the Caribbean Sea on a drug trafficking vessel.

The U.S. military is strengthening its Navy presence near Venezuela, as President Donald Trump seeks to stop the flow of drug trafficking from the Latin American country.

U.S. naval and air assets have been sent to the region to take on drug trafficking and protect regional maritime routes, with some already used this week to target alleged narco-terrorists.

A Marine strike on Tuesday struck a vessel in the southern Caribbean Sea while allegedly carrying members of Tren de Aragua smuggling narcotics headed for the U.S.

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The U.S. military is strengthening its Navy presence near Venezuela. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Anderson W. Branch)

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has deployed several assets to the region, including USS Iwo Jima, USS Lake Erie, USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely and USS Sampson, to target criminal organizations and narco-terrorism, Fox News can confirm.

"In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and counter narco-terrorism to defend the homeland, the Secretary of Defense directed the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group/22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR)," Col. Chris Devine, a spokesman for the Defense Department, told Fox News.

U.S. naval and air assets have been sent to the region to take on drug trafficking and protect regional maritime routes. (Getty Images)

"Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109), USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Sampson (DDG 102) and embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment teams are currently operating in the region," he continued.

Hegseth also sent air assets "to strengthen U.S. whole-of-government detection, monitoring, and interdiction capabilities to sustain pressure on TCO networks throughout the region," according to Devine.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has deployed several assets to waters near Venezuela. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

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"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," he said. "These forces will enhance and augment existing Joint Interagency Task Force – South and USSOUTHCOM capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs and FTOs."