Washington. The United States has ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to a Puerto Rican airfield to carry out operations against drug cartels, two sources said, after the Pentagon said Thursday that two Venezuelan military aircraft came “dangerously close” to a U.S. ship.

These advanced combat aircraft will be added to the already significant U.S. military presence in the Southern Caribbean, with the goal, according to the White House, of suppressing the groups it blames for smuggling drugs into the country.

Friday's deployment comes three days after U.S. forces attacked a ship Trump said was carrying"massive quantities of drugs" from Venezuela, killing 11 people in international waters. The attack appeared to lay the groundwork for a sustained military campaign in Latin America.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the planes should arrive in the area by the end of next week, they reported.

Seven U.S. warships and one nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine are in the region or expected to arrive soon, carrying more than 4,500 sailors.

Marines have been conducting amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.

The troop surge has put pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as"the head of a narco-state."

Maduro, at a press conference in Caracas on Monday, claimed that the United States is seeking regime change through military threats.