Colombia authorizes US anti-drug ops, Hegseth says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia has authorized joint military operations with the United States to target drug traffickers, as Bogota joined a Washington-led anti-cartel alliance.

Speaking Wednesday at an anti-cartel conference in Panama, Hegseth said Colombia had asked the Pentagon to join its fight against what he called narco-terrorism and had authorized joint operations to destroy “terrorist and terror networks.”

Hegseth also said in a post on X that Colombia was officially joining the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition. The post included photos of a memorandum signing with Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Mora.

No details were given on the timing, scope or location of any joint operations.

Colombia follows Peru in joining the so-called Shield of the Americas, an anti-cartel alliance led by US President Donald Trump and made up of pro-US governments in Latin America, including Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador. Member states exchange information and coordinate judicial and security forces to address transnational criminal activity.

The announcement comes after the US military launched a campaign last September of airstrikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. The strikes have killed at least 215 people to date.

Trump's administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has struck were involved in drug trafficking. Legal experts and rights groups say the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings because they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

Colombia's newly elected President Abelardo de la Espriella has promised to crush criminal groups profiting from drug trafficking during the country's worst wave of violence of the past decade. He has said he will halt his predecessor Gustavo Petro's unsuccessful peace negotiations with armed groups and confront what he calls narcoterrorism.

De la Espriella has said he will intensify airstrikes against guerrillas and drug traffickers and has offered to host US troops on Colombian soil. He has also described plans for a military alliance with the United States and Israel.

The US State Department said last week that the Trump administration intends to work with Congress to announce $1 billion in assistance as part of a security package to support Colombia's new administration.