Hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers dispatched to Latin America for anti-drug training

The United States is deploying several hundred Army personnel from the 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, New York, to Latin America as part of an intensified anti-drug effort. The first wave, drawn from a roughly 600-soldier battalion, will be forward-staged in Panama where they will train at a newly built jungle facility under the direction of U.S. Southern Command. Subsequent phases will see the troops conducting joint exercises with forces in Colombia and Honduras and potentially supporting special-operations advisers during raids on suspected cartel members.

In parallel, a separate contingent will assist in establishing a new Western Hemisphere military command headquartered in Miami. The move comes after more than a year of U.S. operations that have included dozens of strikes resulting in over 235 fatalities, and follows agreements with several Latin American governments to permit joint land operations against trafficking networks.