Overview

• Multiple outlets report the military has drawn up plans for strikes on traffickers and drug labs inside Venezuela in the coming weeks, but no order has been given.
• Pentagon officials confirm an expanded regional footprint, including at least eight Navy ships, forward‑based F‑35s and a fast‑attack submarine positioned for rapid action.
• Open‑source satellite imagery identified the USS Iwo Jima amphibious group and accompanying warships operating south of Puerto Rico, indicating a larger U.S. maritime presence.
• U.S. forces have already destroyed at least three small boats this month, with at least 17 people killed, and public evidence of narcotics on all vessels remains incomplete despite one Dominican claim.
• Caracas has condemned the operations, mobilized forces, and signaled readiness to declare a state of emergency, while legal and human-rights challenges in Washington and at the U.N. intensify.