2026-09-18T09:00:29.238Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
据六位熟悉相关计划的消息人士向CNN透露，美国军方计划将在非洲执行任务的MQ-9“死神”无人机调往负责南美洲事务的美军司令部，这是美军向该地区部署军事装备浪潮的一部分，美国官员借此宣扬将与伙伴国开展旨在打击毒品和恐怖主义的预期行动。
去年，美军向加勒比地区部署了MQ-9无人机、F-35战斗机以及至少一架AC-130炮艇机，作为针对所谓贩毒船只行动的组成部分。而此次最新部署正值特朗普政府官员公开宣布计划升级与南美伙伴国的陆上行动。
目前尚不清楚非洲司令部将有多少架MQ-9无人机被调往南方司令部，其中一位消息人士称“大部分”都将被转移。该消息人士以及另外两位人士还表示，这款用于收集情报并实施精确打击的无人机的调动，是为该地区预期的缉毒和反恐行动做准备，其中包括厄瓜多尔境内可能开展的行动。厄瓜多尔今年早些时候已开始与美国开展针对“指定恐怖组织”的军事行动。
另一位消息人士称，美方仍在讨论是否将部分无人机调往中东，原因是美军在对伊朗的战争中损失了包括MQ-9在内的装备。
尽管非洲大陆仍存在恐怖主义担忧，美军仍计划从非洲抽调装备。美军领导人曾警告称，随着近年来美国驻军减少，“伊斯兰国”和索马里青年党等组织持续壮大。尽管如此，针对这些组织的空袭和联合军事行动仍在持续进行。
尽管消息人士告诉CNN，针对恐怖组织的打击行动将继续，但也有部分人担忧，将MQ-9这类装备调出该司令部管辖范围，可能会使相关行动面临更大挑战。
美国国防部长皮特·赫格斯塞思在今年1月发布的官方《国防战略报告》中，将保卫美国本土和西半球列为五角大楼的首要任务。而在海外，美国在太平洋、中东和欧洲存在利益竞争，长期以来美军在非洲的行动都几乎处于优先级列表的末尾。
五角大楼拒绝就此次报道置评。
据多位知情人士透露，CNN此前曾报道，特朗普政府去年曾出具一份机密法律意见，为针对秘密且范围广泛的贩毒集团和疑似毒贩实施致命打击提供依据。
这份由司法部法律顾问办公室出具的意见声称，总统有权授权对广泛的贩毒集团使用致命武力，因为它们对美国人构成迫在眉睫的威胁。该意见还似乎为针对秘密名单上的组织发动无限期战争提供了依据，允许总统将毒贩指定为敌方战斗人员，无需经过法律审查即可将其就地处决，法律专家如此表示。
在8月于巴拿马举行的一次联合会议上，赫格斯塞思赞扬厄瓜多尔、洪都拉斯、危地马拉、牙买加和哥伦比亚与美国建立伙伴关系，并邀请美国参与在其境内开展的打击“恐怖主义毒贩”的联合军事行动。
“哥伦比亚已请求国防部加入其打击恐怖主义毒贩的行动，授权开展联合军事行动，以摧毁恐怖分子及其恐怖网络，”赫格斯塞思说道。
上周，美国国务卿马可·卢比奥在访问该地区期间表示，美国正期待迎来与哥伦比亚关系的“黄金时代”，称两国“自然而然”就应成为“坚定的盟友和伙伴”。CNN本月早些时候曾报道，哥伦比亚总统阿瓦拉多·德拉埃斯普列拉与美国达成协议，将租借三架MQ-9A“死神”无人机，用于监控贩毒通道并开展潜在的精确打击行动。
而在9月17日（周四），美国驻巴拿马大使馆宣布，已向巴拿马交付价值超过600万美元的远程无人机系统（非MQ-9机型），以帮助巴拿马国家海军航空服务队具备“监控偏远边境、守护战略海上通道、摧毁非法贩毒和人口走私网络”的能力。
美国国防部已经在加勒比地区和东太平洋开展了数月的针对疑似毒贩的空袭行动，造成至少230人死亡。
执法官员和专家此前告诉CNN，目前尚不清楚这些空袭是否对该地区的毒品贸易产生了真正且持久的影响。一位官员表示，预计缉获的海洛因海运量下降，可能是因为贩毒集团找到了新的运输路线或贩毒方式。另一位专家则称，毒品贩运通常不会通过此次空袭针对的这类船只进行，称此次空袭行动“不过是作秀”。
近几周来，美国大幅调整了战术，拦截了六艘多艘船只，将船员转移至伙伴国后再将船只击沉。
卢比奥表示，此次战术调整源于美国与其他国家协调开展行动。
“当你在领海内开展联合行动时，必须就行动的开展方式达成共识，”卢比奥说道，“每个国家都有自己的法律，都有必须遵守的制度。有些国家的法律可能比其他国家更为严苛。”
不过，美国并未放弃对载有船员的船只实施打击。美军称，在9月9日针对加勒比地区一艘疑似贩毒船只的袭击中，已击毙三名船员。
CNN的娜塔莎·贝特朗对本文亦有贡献。
Exclusive: US military moving drones to South America ahead of anticipated counternarcotics operations
2026-09-18T09:00:29.238Z / CNN
The US military is expected to send MQ-9 Reaper drones operating over Africa to the US command responsible for South America, six sources familiar with the planning told CNN, part of a wave of military equipment that has moved to the region as US officials trumpet military partnerships for anticipated counternarcotics and counterterror operations.
Last year, the US military moved a combination of MQ-9 drones, F-35 fighter jets, and at least one AC-130 gunship to the Caribbean as part of its campaign targeting alleged drug boats. But the latest shift comes as Trump administration officials have publicly outlined plans to escalate operations on land with partner nations in South America.
It’s unclear how many of US Africa Command’s MQ-9s will be transferred to US Southern Command; one of the sources familiar said it was “most” of them. That source familiar and two others also indicated the transfer of the drones — used for collecting intelligence and carrying out precision strikes — comes ahead of anticipated counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations in the region, including potential operations in Ecuador. That country began conducting military operations with the US earlier this year against “designated terrorist organizations.”
Another of the sources said there are still discussions underway about whether to send some of the drones to the Middle East, as the US military has lost assets in its war against Iran, including MQ-9s.
The shift away from Africa comes despite ongoing concerns about terrorism on that continent. US military leaders have warned that groups like ISIS and al-Shabaab continue to flourish as the US’ presence has decreased in recent years. Nonetheless, there has remained a steady drumbeat of strikes and joint military operations targeting those groups.
While sources told CNN that the targeting of terror groups would continue, some also voiced concern that transferring assets like MQ-9 drones out of the command’s hands could make those operations more challenging.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth named defense of the US homeland and the western hemisphere as the Pentagon’s number one priority in the department’s official National Defense Strategy released in January. And with competing interests abroad — between the Pacific, the Middle East and Europe — the US military’s activity in Africa has long fallen near last in the list of military priorities.
The Pentagon declined to comment for this story.
CNN previously reported that the Trump administration produced a classified legal opinion last year that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The opinion, which was produced by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, argued that the president is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels because they pose an imminent threat to Americans. It also appeared to justify an open-ended war against a secret list of groups, giving the president power to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed without legal review, according to legal experts.
During remarks at a joint conference in Panama in August, Hegseth praised Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica and Colombia for their partnerships with and invitations to the US to partake in joint military operations against “narco-terrorists” in their countries.
“Colombia has already requested the Department of War join Colombia in its fight against narco-terrorism, authorizing joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks,” Hegseth said.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to region that the US was looking to usher in a “golden age” of the relationship with Colombia, saying the “natural state of things” is for the two to be “strong allies and partners.” CNN reported earlier this month that Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella reached an agreement with the US for three MQ-9A Reaper drones to be loaned for monitoring drug-trafficking corridors and carrying out potential precision strikes.
And on Thursday, the US Embassy in Panama announced more than $6 million worth of long-range drone systems — not MQ-9s — were delivered to Panama to give that country’s National Aeronaval Service “the capability to monitor remote borders, safeguard strategic maritime corridors, and dismantle illicit drug trafficking and human smuggling networks.”
The Defense Department has already spent months conducting strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which have killed at least 230 people.
Law enforcement officials and experts previously told CNN it’s unclear if the strikes have had any real, lasting impact on the region’s drug trade. One official said that a projected drop in the amount of seaborne cocaine seized could be explained by cartels finding new routes or ways to traffic in drugs. Another expert said that trafficking is typically not done through the kinds of boats that have been targeted, calling the strike campaign “performative.”
In recent weeks the US has largely undertaken a change of tactics, interdicting more than a half-dozen boats, removing their crews and transferring them to partner countries before sinking the boats.
Rubio said the change stemmed from the US conducting the operations in coordination with other countries.
“When you’re conducting a joint operation in territorial waters, you have to reach an understanding as to how those operations are going to occur,” Rubio said. “And every one of these countries have their own laws, they have their own systems that they have to comply with. Some can be more aggressive than others.”
However, the US has not abandoned strikes on crewed boats. The US military said it had killed three crew members during an attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean on September 9.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report
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