Overview

• A U.S. official said seven warships and a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are in or heading to the region, carrying about 4,500 personnel including roughly 2,200 Marines.
• The White House casts the move as a counter-narcotics mission and alleges Nicolás Maduro leads the so‑called Cartel de los Soles, paired with a $50 million reward for his capture on drug charges.
• Caracas has protested to U.N. Secretary‑General António Guterres, deployed warships and drones to guard its coast, organized militia training, and moved 15,000 troops to the Colombian frontier.
• Experts and neighboring governments dispute that a hierarchical Soles cartel exists, tracing the term to 1993 media usage and describing it as a corruption network not cited in the State Department’s March drug report.
• The Pentagon has not detailed the mission publicly, with reports varying between five and seven ships as P‑8 surveillance flights continue and amphibious vessels including USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale operate in the area.