The United States has ordered additional ships to the southern Caribbean as part of an effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels, two sources briefed on the deployment said. The USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, will arrive in the region in September 2025, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous.
The sources declined to detail the specific mission of the deployments but have said that recent movements are aimed at addressing threats to U.S. national security from specially designated “narco-terrorist organizations” in the region.
In August, sources told Reuters the U.S. has ordered an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of the same effort. The USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale were to have arrived off the coast of Venezuela as early as late August. The ships are carrying 4,500 service members, including 2,200 Marines, the sources said.
The U.S. government has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal and part of a wider effort to secure the U.S. southern border. The U.S. designated Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and other drug gangs as well as Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua as global terrorist organizations in February, as the U.S. stepped up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members.