Mike Baker

launched a broader campaign in Syria under an operation known as Hawkeye Strike –

named in honor of the fallen Iowa soldiers.

According to CENTCOM, the operation has included multiple large-scale strikes carried out with U.S.

partners, hitting more than 100 Islamic State weapons depots, logistics hubs, and infrastructure sites across the country, resulting in dozens of terrorist deaths and captures.

U.S.

officials have said the campaign is still ongoing as part of a wider effort to dismantle terrorist infrastructure networks in Syria, particularly the Islamic State,

before they can regroup or strike again.

And much like the previous strikes, the latest U.S.

military action reinforces that message, that those involved in killing Americans, whether they pull the trigger or help enable the attack, remain targets wherever they operate.

Okay, shifting gears, the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro ushered in a new president in Venezuela.

And while most folks had never heard of Delcy Rodriguez, U.S.

law enforcement knew who she was because they've been watching her for years.

Now, here on the PDB, we've profiled the interim Venezuelan leader before, but newly obtained records by the Associated Press and interviews with more than half a dozen current and former U.S.

officials,

show that DEA agents began tracking Rodriguez in early 2018 before elevating her to a priority target status in 2022.

Now, that priority target status is an internal label that the agency uses for individuals that it believes have an outsized impact on the drug trade.

While the label doesn't automatically translate into criminal charges, it does signal sustained interest at a high level across multiple investigations.

In other words, this wasn't a one-off tip or a passing suspicion.

It's a pattern that kept resurfacing as Rodriguez climbed higher inside the Maduro regime.

DEA intelligence files catalog Rodriguez's known associates and allegations ranging from narcotics trafficking to gold smuggling.