SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday as the U.S. steps up its military operations against drug cartels in the Caribbean in the aftermath of the U.S. strike on a vessel off Venezuela's coast .

The Trump administration has indicated more military strikes on drug targets could be coming , saying it is seeking to “wage war” on Latin American cartels it accuses of flooding the U.S. with cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs. It is facing mounting questions, however, about the legality of the strike and any such escalation , which upends decades of procedures for interdicting suspected drug vessels.

The military's seniormost leaders arrived in the U.S. territory more

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