US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced Operation Southern Spear, a new mission targeting narco-terrorist groups in the Caribbean and Latin American waters. Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and US Southern Command, the operation aims to disrupt drug routes.

Officials say the deployment includes the USS Gerald R Ford and thousands of personnel who have already struck multiple suspected drug-running vessels. More than twenty boats have been destroyed and several dozen suspects killed since September, according to US briefings.