Washington, 25 October 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered an aircraft carrier to sail to Latin American waters as the US pursues its hardline approach to drug traffickers.

The US military command centre responsible for the region, SOUTHCOM, is to take command of the task force, a Defence Department spokesman said on X.

The US forces are to take action against drug smuggling in the region, it said, and "bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland."

The move escalates an already tense situation between the United States and Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Colombia.

In recent weeks, the US military has repeatedly attacked boats allegedly laden with drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Dozens of people are said to have been killed in the process.

In the latest incident, a ship belonging to the Venezuelan drug gang Tren de Aragua in international waters was attacked by US forces overnight, Hegseth wrote on X on Friday.

"The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics," he wrote.

Such actions have been widely criticised, partly because the government of US President Donald Trump did not cite any legal basis for its actions.

The United Nations has called on the US government to exercise restraint.

Photo: EPA