US Announces Military Operation Targeting Narco-Terrorists in Western Hemisphere

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth did not detail any actions that would be immediately taken.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks at the United States Marine Corps 250th birthday celebration at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2025. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth unveiled a new U.S. military operation Thursday targeting “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere to stymie the flow of drugs into the United States, following orders from President Donald Trump.

Hegseth made the announcement in a post on X, saying that the operation aims to combat threats faced domestically by the United States.

“President Trump ordered action—and the Department of War is delivering,” Hegseth wrote. “Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood—and we will protect it.”

Hegseth did not detail any actions that would be immediately taken. Operation Southern Spear will be led by the newly established Joint Task Force Southern Spear, likely along with U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), one of the Department of War’s 11 unified combatant commands.

SOUTHCOM, based in Doral, Florida, spearheads contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation across Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, excluding U.S. territories and possessions.

Trump has expressed he will use American power to the fullest extent to stop drug trafficking from Latin America, including boots on the ground in Venezuela, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated at White House press briefing on Aug. 19.

“What I will say, with respect to Venezuela, President Trump has been very clear and consistent; he’s prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” Leavitt said.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) on Thursday gave his endorsement of U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats from Latin America after a closed-door briefing, held in a sensitive compartmentalized information facility known as a “SCIF,” given to lawmakers on the topic. Rogers called for Trump to go public with the legal basis for the military operations in the regions.

“There was nothing that we should have been in a SCIF talking about,” Rogers, who is the chair for the House Armed Services Committee, told The Epoch Times on Nov. 12. “They should be talking to all y’all, because it was very well done. Completely legal what they’re doing, and they should be more transparent about it, in my view.”

Trump said publicly Oct. 22 that his administration has the legal authority to destroy vessels he said have been confirmed by U.S. intelligence to be transporting drugs, saying he would like to go to Congress if he chooses to target suspects on land.

“Something very serious is going to happen. The equivalent of what’s happening by sea,” Trump said on Oct. 22. “And we’re going to Congress just to tell them what we’re doing, just to keep them informed. But we have to do it for national security. We have to do it to save lives.”

Ryan Morgan, Nathan Worcester, and Reuters contributed to this report.