US guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie crossed the Panama Canal amid President Donald Trump’s newest anti-drug trafficking operation.In step with information company AFP, the naval vessel was once passing throughout the canal’s lock at round 9:30 pm and navigated east in opposition to the Atlantic Ocean.This comes after the Trump management deployed warships to the southern Caribbean, close to Venezuela’s territorial waters, as an anti-drug trafficking operation.Seven US warships, along side one nuclear-powered speedy assault submarine, are both within the area or are anticipated to be there quickly, bringing alongside greater than 4,500 sailors and marines, information company Reuters reported.Whilst US Coast Guard and Army ships frequently perform within the southern Caribbean, the present buildup exceeds the standard deployments within the area.Within the naval drive are warships, together with USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima, and USS Fortress Lauderdale. Some can raise aerial belongings like helicopters, whilst others too can deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles.The USA army has additionally been flying P-8 secret agent planes within the area to collect intelligence, US officers have stated. They have got been flying over global waters.“I did not know the send was once going to move… I used to be stunned,” Alfredo Cedeno, a 32-year-old well being technician who took pictures of the cruiser, advised AFP.Previous, Washington had accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of main a drug cartel and doubled the bounty for his seize to $50 million.The USA has, then again, made no public risk to invade Venezuela.Later, Venezuela introduced that it might patrol its territorial waters with drones and army ships.Maduro additionally claimed to have mobilized greater than 4 million military individuals in keeping with US “threats.”The 567-foot-long (173 meters) USS Lake Erie displaces 9,800 lots and is based totally within the port of San Diego, California.