U.S. Marines and Sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU), operating as part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)—which includes the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28), and USS San Antonio (LPD-17)—have begun amphibious landing exercises in southern Puerto Rico, roughly 500 miles north of Venezuela. The 22nd MEU is part of a U.S. Navy task force deployed to the southern Caribbean to combat narco-terrorism in Latin America, following the task force’s first kinetic strike yesterday against a vessel tied to Tren de Aragua/Cartel de los Soles off Venezuela’s coast.