WASHINGTON 

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced Friday that his agency is forming a joint task force operating in the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility to target drug trafficking organizations.

Hegseth said the force is being established at President Donald Trump's direction "to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe."

"The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold," he said on the US social media company X.

Since last month, the US has carried out at least four strikes in the Caribbean Sea against vessels allegedly carrying illegal drugs recently conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela.