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The amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) returned to the dock in Ponce, in the south of Puerto Rico, last Thursday, four months after completing Operation Absolute Resolution, the mission that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro on orders from President Donald Trump.
The arrival was documented by Puerto Rican photographer Michael Bonet (@MichaelBonet8) at 8:05 AM on May 7, who published images of the Wasp-class ship approaching the port with tugboats.
The USS Iwo Jima was the ship that received Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores after their capture in Caracas on January 3, 2026. From its deck, Trump posted the first image of the Venezuelan dictator —his face covered, escorted by armed personnel— on his social media platform Truth Social.
Maduro was transferred from Iwo Jima to the naval base at Guantánamo and then to New York, where he arrived handcuffed at DEA offices to face federal charges.
After the fall of the Venezuelan dictator, members of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit continued training missions in the Caribbean aboard the same ship.
According to recent publications from Southern Command, the exercises have focused on fast rope descents from MH-60S Seahawk helicopters and landings on the deck by MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
The ship was carrying at least 10 V-22 Osprey tiltrotors and an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter on its flight deck upon its arrival in Ponce.
During one of those training sessions, First Corporal Chukwuemeka E. Oforah, 21 years old, fell overboard from the USS Iwo Jima on the night of February 7 while the ship was operating in the Caribbean Sea.
After a 72-hour search and rescue operation that involved five ships and ten aircraft, the Marine Corps declared him deceased on February 10.
The return of Iwo Jima to Puerto Rico is part of the continuity of Operation Southern Lance, officially launched on September 1, 2025, and led by General Francis L. Donovan, commander of Southern Command.
The operation aims to combat drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific through intensive surveillance and lethal strikes.
Until mid-April, the operation had carried out approximately 52 kinetic attacks, eliminating more than 163 individuals.
On May 4 and 5, just days before the return of the Iwo Jima to Ponce, the Joint Task Force took down two alleged drug traffickers in a boat in the Caribbean, and on May 9, another lethal attack was launched in the region.
U.S. forces seem determined to maintain surveillance against drug cartels in the Caribbean at least until Trump concludes his second term in the White House.
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