The USS Gravely. Photo: seaforces.org

By KELIN DILLON

According to a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Defense, the United States has sent a missle destroyer, the USS Gravely, to the Gulf of Mexico to bolster its border security operations and prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States.

“It’s vital for the United States to control not only our land border but also our territorial waters. This deployment directly supports U.S. Northern Command’s mission to protect our sovereignty,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Monday, March 17, referencing the ongoing U.S. initiative to curb illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The destroyer, which was recently stationed in the Red Sea to combat Houthi rebels, will reportedly support the U.S. Coast Guard on its anti-narcotics missions in the area.

Its duties include “maritime-related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration,” detailed the Pentagon.

“The USS Gravely will be deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding areas participating in the mission of interdicting drugs and other things headed to our country,” General Alexus G. Grynkewich said Monday.

“It will work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, and of course, we won’t share their maneuver plan, but know that this is the mission they’ll be deployed for. We’ll see what they can do,” added Grynkewich.

While the destroyer’s precise deployment plan remains unknown, the defense officials said the USS Gravely would opera both domestic and international waters in the Gulf of Mexico.