Trump’s strikes against narco-terrorists to continue through end of term
U.S. officials highlighted that operation southern Spear, a military campaign launched during President Donald Trump’s governance to combat drug cartels in the Caribbean, Pacific, and Latin America, is ongoing through the end of his second term. The operation has targeted drug trafficking boats and land sites, resulting in notable reductions in drug flow into U.S.communities-specifically, decreases of 65% in the Western Caribbean, 60% in the eastern Caribbean, and nearly 50% in parts of the Eastern Pacific. The U.S. Southern Command reports that these efforts have driven record declines in illicit maritime activity. The total cost of the operation nears $1 billion, with approximately $820 million spent by July. Past actions include striking multiple vessels and rescuing survivors, even though updated figures on total strikes and drug prevention are not publicly provided. The campaign aims to disrupt narco-terrorist networks, making it increasingly arduous and dangerous for traffickers to move narcotics into the U.S., and has prompted some Latin American countries to enhance their own drug interdiction efforts. Officials emphasize that these security efforts deliver significant, measurable benefits and are considered a valuable investment in national safety.
U.S. officials predicted that Operation Southern Spear, President Donald Trump‘s kinetic campaign against so-called narco-terrorist cartels in the Caribbean Sea, Pacific Ocean, and across Latin America, would continue through the end of his second term in office.
The Trump administration held a background briefing with reporters on Tuesday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the campaign. Officials claimed that the operation’s strikes against and interdictions of alleged drug trafficking boats, on top of strikes against land targets, have “resulted in orders of magnitude less drugs coming into our communities.”
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“U.S. Southern Command’s counter-narcotics operations have driven record reductions in illicit maritime activity. That includes a 65% reduction in the Western Caribbean, a 60% in the Eastern Caribbean reduction, and a nearly 50% reduction in key areas of the Eastern Pacific,” one official said.
“President Trump made a promise to the American people that we will secure this country, we will defend our sovereignty, and take the fight to the cartels and narco-terrorists who have poisoned our communities for far too long,” that person added. “Every disputed route, every denied corridor, and every degraded network makes it harder, makes it more expensive and more dangerous for narco-terrorists to move their poison towards the United States of America.”
Furthermore, the administration claimed that a number of other Latin American countries have been compelled to increase their own military and police operations targeting cartels, including Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
“This is a region where the sustained application of resources to protect our interests results in material, physical security benefits to the United States that are, again, exponentially greater than the application of resources,” one U.S. official suggested. “This is a mission for the American people, where the question isn’t what does it cost us — the question is what do we gain from it? Because the gains are real, measurable, considerable, and growing with time.”
TOTAL PRICE TAG FOR OPERATION SOUTHER SPEAR NEARS $1 BILLION
U.S. officials declined to list updated totals for strikes and other actions carried out under the operation or give estimates for the amount of narcotics the campaign has prevented from flowing onto American streets.
In July, the Pentagon announced that U.S. Southern Command had spent roughly $820 million funding Operation Southern Spear. The Washington Examiner previously reported that the operation had struck 47 vessels in the Pacific, 17 vessels in the Caribbean, and two vessels in unknown locations, killing 218 mariners. The United States rescued four survivors from the 66 total vessels struck.
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