In a series of actions on Friday, the Trump administration significantly ratcheted up tensions with Latin America — and signaled that it was set to dramatically expand its nascent military offensive against so-called “Transnational Criminal Organizations” in the region.

The escalation began overnight, when the military targeted another boat in the Caribbean that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a Friday morning social media post, claimed was involved in drug smuggling and was carrying members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal enterprise. The strike, which killed six people, was the 10th known operation since Sept. 2, and the third this week, following two others in the eastern Pacific off the coast of South America.

So far, at least 43 people that President Donald Trump labeled

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