US shifts Reaper drones from Africa to Latin America

The U.S. military is redirecting MQ-9 Reaper drones to Latin America as it expands operations in the region, CNN reported on Friday. 

The drones, assigned to U.S. Africa Command, would transfer to Southern Command in the latest buildup of American military force in Latin America. CNN’s report, citing multiple sources, said that the MQ-9 Reapers were being moved to South America ahead of anticipated operations against drug cartels. The U.S. has been carrying out airstrikes on suspected drug boats for more than a year, but this summer escalated operations in and around South America as regional governments joined Washington’s Shield of the Americas coalition.

It is not clear how many Reapers would leave AFRICOM’s area of responsibility or what it would mean for operations on the continent. AFRICOM regularly carries out airstrikes against militants in Somalia using drones and other aircraft. The most recent occurred on Sept. 17, when AFRICOM said it targeted a weapons storage space used by al-Shabaab. Several MQ-9 drones were flown over Nigeria earlier this year in support of U.S. operations around the Lake Chad Basin. This summer, after operations against Islamic State militants wrapped, the U.S. began withdrawing combat forces from the country.

AFRICOM directed questions about the redeployment to the Pentagon, which declined to comment.

The movement of the drones comes as the United States ramps up military actions in Latin America as part of the Shield of the Americas agreement, also known as the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition. Under it, U.S. forces and local partners are targeting narcotics traffickers, specifically cartels that the U.S. has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. 

Last month, Ecuadorian officials confirmed that U.S. Green Berets were carrying out joint operations in the country against cartels, and two U.S. warships and deployed Marines arrived. Since then, Marines with Littoral Combat Force-24 have interdicted, boarded and sunk multiple ships allegedly operating as floating refueling stations. The U.S. is looking to expand operations. Top military and diplomatic leaders have visited Colombia and Peru in recent weeks, with Peru most recently announcing it would join the coalition.

The shift of military aircraft comes as the U.S. also shifts foreign military financing to partner nations in Latin America. On Tuesday, the State Department notified Congress that it is shifting $52 million in funds meant for military assistance to Iraq, Slovakia, North Macedonia and Tunisia to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama. All four nations are part of the counter-cartel agreement. According to the State Department said that the funds will help “combat narcoterrorism in our backyard and help continue to secure the Panama Canal.”

Last year, the Air Force deployed MQ-9 Reapers to Puerto Rico, as part of the wider buildup of U.S. forces in the Caribbean for Operation Southern Spear. That mission, carried out by a task force of the same name, largely focused on strikes on small boats that SOUTHCOM said were transporting drugs. Many elements deployed to the Caribbean later took part in Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela this January.

The new counter-drug mission, being carried out by Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, has centered on the eastern Pacific instead of the Caribbean. Boat strikes since September 2025 have killed more than 200 people.