US deploys 10 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to bolster anti-drug cartel naval presence

The US has ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to a Puerto Rico airfield to conduct operations against drug cartels, two sources briefed on the matter said.

The advanced fighter jets will be added to an already bristling US military presence in the southern Caribbean as President Donald Trump carries out a campaign pledge to crack down on groups funneling drugs into the United States.

Friday's development comes three days after US forces attacked a boat that Trump said was carrying "massive amounts of drugs" from Venezuela, killing 11 people. The strike appeared to set the stage for a sustained military campaign in Latin America.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 10 fighter jets are being sent to conduct operations against designated narco-terrorist organizations operating in the southern Caribbean. The planes should arrive in the area by late next week, they said.

The US has deployed warships in the southern Caribbean in recent weeks, with the aim of carrying out Trump's crackdown.

Seven US warships and one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine are either in the region or expected to be there soon, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines.

US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.

The buildup has put pressure on illegitimate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called, "effectively a kingpin of a drug narco state."

Maduro, raging at a rare news conference in Caracas on Monday, said the United States is, "seeking a regime change through military threat."

(Reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Scott Malone and Edwina Gibbs)