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War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that some cartel drug traffickers operating in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility have halted narcotics activity following recent U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean.
“WINNING: Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the @SOUTHCOM AOR have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean,” Hegsth wrote in a post on X.
Hegseth credited President Donald Trump with directing the military actions, calling the effort a lifesaving deterrent.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gives a thumbs up during a game between the Navy Midshipmen and Army West Point Black Knights at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Md. (Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
“This is deterrence through strength. @POTUS is SAVING American lives,” he wrote.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised the military action, writing on X, “Well done @SecWar and to all under your command. We must continue to verify and monitor. We can’t trust drug cartels.”
PENTAGON WATCHDOG WARNS DRONE INCURSIONS REQUIRE ‘IMMEDIATE ATTENTION’ AT US MILITARY BASES
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth looks on during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Jan. 29, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Trump administration has been pursuing a policy of conducting deadly attacks against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”
SOUTHCOM announced a strike that killed two on Thursday.
US FORCES KILL TWO SUSPECTED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE OPERATION
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“On Feb. 5, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” Southern Command noted in a post on X.
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