Washington DC - Washington is deploying an aircraft carrier strike group to counter drug-trafficking organizations in Latin America, the Pentagon said Friday, a major increase to a military buildup in the region that is fueling fears of war.

President Donald Trump – who campaigned on a promise of ending foreign military interventions – launched a military campaign targeting boats allegedly used to smuggle narcotics in early September, destroying at least 10 vessels in a series of strikes.

But the American military buildup as part of that campaign – including 10 F-35 stealth warplanes and eight US Navy ships – has sparked fears in Venezuela that Washington's ultimate goal is the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro, and the decision to send the carrier is certain to add to those concerns.

The deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford and accompanying ships "will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, referring to transnational criminal organizations.

The announcement came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said an overnight strike on a boat alleged to be operated by Venezuelan drug trafficking gang Tren de Aragua killed six people in the Caribbean Sea.

Trump, meanwhile, said Thursday that he did not need a declaration of war from US lawmakers to attack Venezuela or other countries he accuses of involvement in the drug trade, warning that strikes on land are coming.

"The land is going to be next," Trump said, likening drug cartels to the brutal Islamic State jihadist group.