(The Hill) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday evening a new operation dubbed “Southern Spear” to quash “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere.
Hegseth said the mission is being led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and U.S. Southern Command to defend the “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,” he wrote on social media.
A Pentagon official told NewsNation the operation name covers the 20 strikes already conducted in the region.
When reached for comment, the Pentagon referred NewsNation partner The Hill back to Hegseth’s post on X.
The announcement comes as Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine and other senior military leaders reportedly briefed President Donald Trump on Wednesday at the White House regarding military options for the region, including potential land strikes against Venezuela.
It also came shortly after the news broke that the U.S. military had conducted its 20th lethal strike against an alleged drug-trafficking boat on Monday. The strike killed four “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean Sea, a Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Thursday.
The U.S. military has killed at least 80 people since the counternarcotics campaign began in early September. The strikes have taken place in both the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific in what the administration argues is an effort to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.
In late January, the U.S. military announced that the U.S. Navy’s 4th Fleet will start a new operation, named “Southern Spear,” that will “operationalize a heterogeneous mix of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) to support the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking while learning lessons for other theaters.”
The military said in January that the operation would take place in the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom), which covers more than 30 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean region. It’s unclear how Hegseth’s Thursday announcement compares to the news about “Southern Spear” from January.
In early October, Hegseth announced the Pentagon formed a new counternarcotics joint task force in order to “crush” drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea, while operating in the Southcom area.
“By forming a JTF around II MEF headquarters, we enhance our ability to detect, disrupt, and dismantle illicit trafficking networks faster and at greater depth – together with our U.S. and partner-nation counterparts,” Southcom Commander Adm. Alvin Holsey, who is retiring later this year, said in a statement at the time.
The administration has built up a massive military presence in the Southcom area, sending warships, F-35 fighter planes, spy aircraft and other military assets as it turns up the pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom they characterized as an “illegitimate leader.”
The U.S. has added more firepower in the region this week with the arrival of USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and its strike group to Southcom on Tuesday. The carrier, which has over 4,000 sailors, carries F/A-18 Super Hornets fighter planes and long-range Tomahawk missiles.
Kellie Meyer contributed to this report.