Pentagon Sends Hundreds of Army Troops to Latin America for Drug-Trafficking Training The U.S. is deploying several hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division to Latin America for training and joint exercises as the Trump administration expands its campaign against drug-trafficking networks. The U.S. military is deploying several hundred Army soldiers to Latin America for training and joint exercises with regional forces as the Trump administration expands its campaign against drug-trafficking networks, Fox News confirmed. The deployment involves soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York. The first troops from a roughly 600-soldier battalion are expected to deploy to Panama, according to reporting by The Times. A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the troops are being forward-staged under U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, which will determine where they are ultimately deployed.New Training Facility Deployed in PanamaAccording to The Times, the troops will first deploy to a new jungle training facility in Panama before eventually training with local forces in the region. Separately, several hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to help staff a new Western Hemisphere military command based in Miami. U.S. SOUTHCOM said it has directed USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) and USS Billings (LCS 15) to Venezuela to support State Department-led U.S. government relief operations in Venezuela.Since the campaign began more than a year ago, U.S. forces have conducted dozens of strikes, with more than 235 people killed. The campaign has also included a U.S. military strike on an alleged narco-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean that killed four so-called narco-terrorists. U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen.Land Strikes Considered as OptionsFrancis L. Donovan testified during a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jan. 15, 2026. Donovan said land strikes are among the options under consideration. Do I see land strikes as options? Yes.We want all options at the table, Donovan said in an interview. Those actions might be strikes, arrests, or the takedown of a safe house, he continued. It could even be something as routine as increasing the use of cargo scanners at border checkpoints. Donovan added that the goal was to create total systemic friction for the cartels.Agreements Allow Expansion to Land OperationsThe Trump administration has pursued agreements with allied nations that could allow it to expand military operations against trafficking networks onto land in multiple Latin American countries. Pete Hegseth previously said during a visit to Panama in August that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups within their borders, although Guatemala denied reaching such an agreement.The Trump administration's list of U.S.-designated foreign terrorist groups in Latin America has expanded to 21. The broader security effort has been described as Trump's new security alliance facing its first real-world test deep in South America as troops deploy.