The guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie is en route to the southern Caribbean near Venezuela, a Navy official confirmed to Task & Purpose on Saturday. It is the latest in several Navy ships deployed to the region this month in a buildup of American forces.

The USS Lake Erie, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, was spotted passing through the Panama Canal by reporters from Agence France-Presse on Friday night, heading to the Caribbean. It is set to join three Aegis-class guided-missile destroyers and the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group already in the waters near Venezuela. Those ships and the Marine Expeditionary Unit onboard the ARG were deployed as part of an anti-drug trafficking operation. P-8 surveillance planes are also operating in the Caribbean.

CBS also reported that the

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