The deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford marks a major escalation in what the US says is a campaign to target drug traffickers.

Hegseth’s order comes as the Trump administration has been striking alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) is headed to Venezuela, following weeks of U.S. attacks on suspected drug-runners.

The US is deploying the world’s largest warship towards the Caribbean, marking a major escalation in what it says is a campaign to target drug traffickers. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier,

The dispatch of the warships marks the biggest escalation in US’s largest naval build-up in the region for years

The deployment is part of Trump's military buildup in the Caribbean, which includes eight additional warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft.

The move would be a major escalation of the Trump administration’s military campaign to target drug smugglers and threaten governments in Latin America.