U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the division of the military that oversees activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, has activated a new headquarters to combat drug cartels and other criminal organizations across the region.
The Army launched the new Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere on Aug. 3, replacing Joint Task Force Southern Spear—a temporary command that the Army established in 2025.
The force will coordinate military operations with partner nations across Latin America and the Caribbean, integrating intelligence and surveillance capabilities, working on maritime interdiction operations, overseeing planning between numerous nations, and expanding joint military training with nations it partners with. It also can coordinate humanitarian and disaster response assistance.
“We will locate, close with, and destroy these threats,” SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said in a video announcing the task force, talking about criminal organizations. “We will apply total systemic friction to these organizations. … We are now changing the game.”
Cracking Down on Drug Boats
It comes as the Trump administration has made cracking down on drug cartels in Latin America a key priority.
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America, adding that repeated strikes on boats that the Army has undertaken in the region are a necessary escalation to stem the flow of illegal drugs purportedly harming Americans.
Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, as drugs also enter through land channels like Mexico. Deaths caused by strikes have also drawn condemnation.
The Pentagon spent some $820 million over the course of Operation Southern Spear, which fired on at least 67 boats, killing at least 221 people, according to The Hill.
The headquarters of the new task force will be led by Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin Jarrad, who most recently led with U.S. military support for the June earthquake in Venezuela.
It will operate with the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, which is an alliance of 18 countries set up this year to strengthen intelligence sharing and coordinate responses against crime.
“Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere is SOUTHCOM’s action arm for confronting threats across the hemisphere,” Donovan added. “Purpose-built and task-organized, this headquarters brings together tailored military capabilities and trusted partnerships to increase total systemic friction, operational tempo, impose sustained pressure on criminal organizations and strengthen the security of the United States and our partners.
“Together with the 18 nations of A3C, we are changing the way we confront these threats.”
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