ISTANBUL

Two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over the USS Jason Dunham on Thursday in a provocative move that the Department of Defense said appeared to be aimed at interfering with US counter-narcotics operations.

The Navy vessel had been deployed to waters off Venezuela as part of the Trump administration's efforts to target drug cartels.

"This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations," the department said in a statement. "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."

US President Donald Trump previously signed an executive order calling for increasing the use of military force against Latin American drug cartels.

The US has long accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), an alleged network of high-level drug trafficking and organized crime within the Venezuelan government and military.

On July 25, the US Treasury designated the group as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” organization.

On Aug. 8, Washington doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction from $25 million to $50 million.

Maduro responded on Aug. 18, saying: “We defend our seas, our skies, and our land. No empire can touch Venezuela’s sacred territory or South America’s sacred lands.”

Following Trump’s orders, a US naval group including seven warships and a submarine was dispatched to Caribbean waters near Venezuela on Aug. 28.