ISTANBUL 

American forces are shifting to offensive operations against drug cartels, said the US defense secretary.

"Now we go on offense to make sure these cartels can't be funded, that they can't sustain what they're doing," Pete Hegseth said in a Fox News interview aired on Wednesday, emphasizing a strategic shift in operations.

He described the mission as protecting "the homeland" and stopping the "killing" and "poisoning of the American people" by cartels that he argued crossed the southern border easily under previous administrations.

Hegseth clarified this approach involves "precise application of American power" rather than endless warfare, sending signals that "narcoterrorism will not be tolerated in our hemisphere." He warned traffickers that the US is no longer operating "with kid gloves."

Asked about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denying the veracity of a video said to show a recent US strike killing 11 alleged Tren de Aragua gang members, Hegseth disputed this, saying: "He knows it's a lie ... I watched the strike live. We knew exactly who it was, exactly what they were doing."

Addressing concerns of Chinese influence, Hegseth said that "America is back in the Western Hemisphere" and emphasized the US should not "cede this hemisphere to anybody."

The interview followed Hegseth's recent Puerto Rico visit as part of expanded Caribbean anti-cartel operations under the Trump administration.

The visit followed President Donald Trump's executive order authorizing increased military force against Latin American drug cartels and the deployment of a naval group including seven warships and a submarine to Caribbean waters near Venezuela on Aug. 28. It also came amid reports that the Trump administration plans to deploy F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.

The US has long accused Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles drug network. On July 25, the US Treasury designated the group as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” organization.

On Aug. 8, Washington doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction from $25 million to $50 million.

Maduro responded on Aug. 18, saying: “We defend our seas, our skies and our land. No empire can touch Venezuela’s sacred territory or South America’s sacred lands.”