687
Views

USS Gerald R. Ford is Sent to Caribbean as Drug Smuggling War Intensifies

Gerald R. Ford carrier
Gerald R. Ford transiting the Strait of Gibraltar at the beginning of October (US Navy)

Published Oct 24, 2025 4:05 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The United States confirmed that it is taking a series of additional steps to combat drug smuggling, including redirecting the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, into the U.S. Southern Command. The announcement of the deployment came just hours after the Pentagon confirmed another attack on a boat in the Caribbean.

The Ford and its carrier strike group have been deployed since June, making various stops in Europe. Reports place the carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean, having made a stop in Croatia. At the beginning of October, the Navy released pictures of the strike group transiting the Strait of Gibraltar. USNI News speculates it will require at least one week to reposition the carrier into the Caribbean, and it reports that it is unclear which vessels will be accompanying the carrier.

A Pentagon spokesperson said in the prepared statement that the presence of Gerald R. Ford in the region would “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities…” 

The U.S. is believed to have directed as many as eight warships, including at least one nuclear submarine, into Southern Command’s area of responsibility. Reports say there are as many as 10,000 troops that have been positioned in the region. The Air Force is also believed to have repositioned assets to the Caribbean.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, October 23, Donald Trump said the U.S. continues to have concerns with Venezuela and called President Nicolás Maduro an “illegitimate leader.” Trump, however, denied the reports circulating online based on flight tracking data that the U.S. had sent B-1 bombers toward Venezuela. He called the reports false while online speculation was that the U.S. was scoping out the country’s air defense systems. Trump said the U.S. would continue to kill drug smugglers and said the “land is next,” but insisted he did not require a declaration of war from Congress.

 

 

Pete Hegseth, this morning, October 24, announced that overnight the U.S. struck another boat in the Caribbean, which he associated with one of the drug cartels, Tren de Aragua. Like the previous strikes, he wrote that intelligence identified the boat on a known drug smuggling route and that it was carrying narcotics. 

The strike came after two earlier this week in the Eastern Pacific. It is the ninth announced by Hegseth and the first strike conducted at night. The death toll is up to at least 43 people based on the statements, with only two survivors. Hegseth said “six terrorists were killed” during the overnight strike, which was conducted in international waters.

Hegseth said, “Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

Maduro has called the U.S. actions a “crazy war” and says the U.S. has long tried to destabilize his government. It is widely believed that the administration is seeking to force regime change in Venezuela through its current actions.