United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a new US military operation that is aimed at targeting so-called "narco-terrorists" in the Western Hemisphere.

"Today, I'm announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR," the Pentagon boss declared on social media platform X on Thursday.

"Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people," he said.

The Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is one of the US military's eleven unified combatant commands which is tasked with contingency planning, operations and security cooperation for 31 countries in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

US campaign against drug trafficking

Last week, the USS Gerald R Ford — world's largest aircraft carrier — arrived in the waters of the Caribbean and Latin America, adding to an already massive naval build-up in the region.

Washington said that its military presence in the area is aimed at reining in transnational criminal gangs in order to protect the US from illicit drugs.

As part of its campaign against drug trafficking, the US has carried out military strikes against a number of vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, claiming that they are "drug boats." Dozens of people have died in the strikes.

Maduro claims US is 'fabricating' war

The US action has heightened tensions in the region, particularly with Venezuela.

Washington claims that the smugglers have links to Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro denied the accusations and, in turn, claims that the US is "fabricating a new war."

He alleges that the US military buildup is to oust him from power.

According to Maduro, the US naval deployment in the region is "the greatest threat our continent has faced in the past 100 years."

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko