The United States has ordered the deployment of strike jets to a Puerto Rico airfield as part of intensified operations against drug cartels in the southern Caribbean, sources say. The move adds significant firepower to an already robust US military presence in the region and has heightened tensions with Venezuela.

The deployment follows a deadly US missile strike on Tuesday targeting a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The Trump administration said the vessel was carrying 11 Venezuelan drug traffickers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday that such attacks “will happen again.”

On Thursday, the US accused Venezuela of making a “highly provocative move” by buzzing one of its warships in international waters.