❓WHAT HAPPENED: War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the expansion of Operation Southern Spear, targeting narco-terror networks in Latin America.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. Southern Command, Joint Task Force Southern Spear, and the U.S. Navy.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Strikes were carried out recently in the Caribbean and the Pacific; the mission spans the Western Hemisphere.
💬KEY QUOTE: “This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.” – Pete Hegseth
🎯IMPACT: The operation aims to dismantle drug networks and secure the U.S. from narco-terrorist threats.
U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced late Thursday the expansion of Operation Southern Spear. Initially launched by the U.S. Navy in January 2025 as a program to monitor illicit drug trafficking in the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility (USSOUTHCOM AOR), the mission will expand with the inclusion of significant military assets now present in the Caribbean.
“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,” Secretary Hegseth wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He added: “The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood—and we will protect it.”
Notably, the United States has conducted a significant buildup of Navy and Air Force assets in the Caribbean, with the USS Gerald R. Ford—the world’s largest warship and aircraft carrier—entering the region, along with the deployment of F-35s to Puerto Rico and major naval deployments near Venezuela. The U.S military recently carried out its 20th strike on alleged drug-tracking boats, according to a Pentagon official. The most recent strike reportedly killed four suspected narco-terrorists.
The National Pulse has previously reported that President Trump is weighing potential options for operations in Venezuela, including possible land strikes, though no final decisions have been made. Military strikes against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime have long been anticipated.
Recently, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized to the Maduro regime that the U.S. strikes will only stop if Venezuela stops the cartel boats from entering the Caribbean. Maduro is accused of being the clandestine head of the Soles drug cartel, which is believed to be the key drug supplier to other criminal and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) like Tren de Aragua.
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