Small drones are "the defining threat of our time," Brig. Gen. Ross said, requiring a layered defense network to stop them.

Intelligence assessments determined vessels were moving along established narco-trafficking routes, says SOUTCOM - Anadolu Ajansı

The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command told Newsweek that its bomber force is ready to strike "anywhere, anytime."

"In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident," the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a post on X .