Pentagon announces "Operation Southern Spear" to protect hemisphere from narcoterrorism

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Thursday Operation Southern Lance, a new military operation whose mission will be to eliminate the threat of narcoterrorism throughout the Western Hemisphere, in what represents a major escalation by the administration of President Donald Trump in his war against drug cartels, which have caused all sorts of damage in the country. While Hegseth did not provide further details about the operation, the secretary of war reported that Southern Command will be one of the groups leading such a counternarcotics operation.

"President Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering. Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. 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 reported through his X account.

The operation is focused primarily on the Maduro regime

The announcement of this operation takes place within the framework of the anti-narcotics operation deployed last September by the Trump Administration in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, with the aim of ending the threat of the different drug cartels that operate in the region and send most of their narcotics to the United States. Although the Republican president's operation has threatened criminal groups in Mexico and has even attacked vessels belonging to Colombian guerrilla groups such as the National Liberation Army, the truth is that the focus has been almost exclusively on the Venezuelan narco-terrorist organizations Cartel of the Suns and the Train of Aragua, which are directly commanded by the dictator Nicolas Maduro, according to US authorities.

In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has eliminated several drug-laden boats from Venezuela bound for the United States. However, both the president and several members of his administration have indicated that the operation could soon evolve to a second phase in which the attacks would already be against certain types of targets on Venezuelan soil.