Two Venezuelan military aircraft buzzed a US Navy destroyer in the Caribbean on Thursday, in what the Pentagon called a �highly provocative� attempt to interfere with counter-drug operations.

The incident comes just 48 hours after US forces attacked a Tren de Aragua narco-smuggling boat in the region, killing 11 militants tied to Venezuela�s most powerful cartel.

�Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters,� the Pentagon said in a statement. �This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations. The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military.�

According to CBS News, the aircraft involved were armed F-16 fighter jets. The vessel they harassed was the USS Jason Dunham, an Aegis-class guided-missile destroyer. The Navy dispatched at least eight ships to the Caribbean last month � including three guided-missile destroyers � as part of a broader mission to dismantle narcotics networks flooding the US with fentanyl-laced drugs.

The Pentagon has not released additional details on Thursday�s incident.

The flare-up marks the latest confrontation between Washington and Caracas. Earlier this year, the Trump administration formally designated Venezuela�s Tren de Aragua and Cartel de Los Soles as foreign terrorist organizations, accusing President Nicol�s Maduro of enabling their trafficking operations.

The Justice Department last month placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro�s head, with Attorney General Pam Bondi calling him �one of the largest narco traffickers in the world, and a threat to our national security.�

Maduro has lashed out at the naval buildup, denouncing the US mission as �the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years� and accusing Washington of plotting regime change.

With US warships and Venezuelan fighter jets now confronting each other over disputed waters and drug-smuggling routes, tensions in the Caribbean are escalating into one of the most dangerous flashpoints of Trump�s second term.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)