Pete Hegseth announces new counter-narcotics task force in Caribbean
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the Department of War (DOW) has established a new Joint Counternarcotics Task Force in the Caribbean Sea.
Hegseth said the task force’s goal will be to “crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.” “The message is clear: if you smuggle drugs onto our shores, we will stop you.”
He said the task force set out under the instructions of President Donald Trump in the SOUTHCOM region, which covers the Caribbean and Latin America.
USA SHOT ANOTHER BOAT ALLEGEDLY TRAFFICKING DRUGS NEAR VENEZUELA, 4 PEOPLE KILLED
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the War Department has established a new Joint Counternarcotics Task Force in the Caribbean Sea. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)
The task force launched World War II on Friday “to synchronize and augment counternarcotics efforts across the Western Hemisphere,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement. He said it was launched under the Marine Expeditionary Force.
“International criminal organizations threaten the security, prosperity and health of our hemisphere,” SOUTHCOM commander Admiral Alvin Holsey said in a statement. “By creating a JTF around II MEF headquarters, we, along with our U.S. and partner country counterparts, are enhancing our ability to detect, disrupt and dismantle illegal human trafficking networks faster and more thoroughly.”
TRUMP ORDERED A ‘LETHAL KINETIC HIT’ ON A DRUG TRAFFICKING VESSEL IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, 3 PEOPLE KILLED
This comes after the administration launched a strike against boats it said were linked to drug trafficking networks in the Caribbean.
The administration has launched a series of deadly attacks in the past few months against four small boats believed to be carrying drugs.
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he ordered a deadly attack on a ship affiliated with a terrorist organization operating in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility on September 19. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
It was stated that 21 people lost their lives in the attacks.
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The attacks alarmed Democratic lawmakers because the administration did not detail what evidence it had against the targeted boats or their passengers.
