CONFLICT IN THE CARIBBEAN
Grand Central Times - Dateline June 12th 2017
A USMC Checkpoint near the city of San Arluco
Over the past week, the United States has conducted a series of high-chaos operations, with the apparent support of the local government, on the island of Isla Sula: A small island nation located off the shore of Venezuela. For the past several years, Isla Sula appears to have been a semi-narco state run by the Los Cazados drug cartel. Up until yesterday, only sporadic reports of the conflict have been available on social media, however, as of June 11th, the Pentagon released an official statement regarding the rumors of a US presence on Isla Sula.
"The United States has deployed military forces to the island of Isla Sula with the intent of dismantling the drug cartel operating there. Operations in the area have been extremely successful, with members of the 22nd MEU having cleared out the last remnants of the Cartel. US forces also successfully rescued President Alonzo Moya from an attempt on his life by the cartel."
The usage of large conventional military forces against the Los Cazados cartel could signal a change to much more overt methods of shutting down drug trade. The Los Cazados cartel seems to have been responsible for a large portion of narcotics being smuggled into the United States. This outright destruction of a major supplier seems to indicate the US government deciding to take the shutting down of drug traffickers to a whole new level, possibly even to the level of a so-called 'War on Drugs.' This seems to fall inline with directives set out previously by the Moore Administration.
Despite the apparent use of conventional forces, there are many that speculate that the 22nd MEU was deployed to cover up something along the lines of a CIA operation gone wrong. Some unconfirmed sources indicate the use of equipment not utilized by an MEU. Further, some known cartel-affiliated sources seem to have evidence that there were members of the CIA captured by the cartel before, or during, the course of the 22nd MEU's operations. The Pentagon has yet to confirm or deny the rumors about a CIA operation gone wrong but, as with everything, we will keep you updated as the situation unfolds.
Alan White - Grand Central Times
*This news report is a fictional work created to support the 3d MRB ARMA gameplay