Baghdad: The United States has moved the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its air wing to the U.S. Southern Command area, as part of Washington’s war on drug traffickers. Sean Parnell, a Spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, said on Friday that this measure comes in implementation of President Donald Trump’s directives (to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and combat drug-related terrorism).

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the statement indicated that intensifying the military presence in the Southern Command area will enhance the United States’ ability to monitor and confront entities and activities that threaten the country’s security. The military move came hours after Washington announced an airstrike on a boat suspected of being used for drug trafficking by a Venezuelan gang, which resulted in the death of six people in the Caribbean Sea, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday.