In a sign of the Trump administration’s new focus on combating Latin American cartels, the U.S. military has moved a number of MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador, U.S. officials said. MQ-9 Reaper drones are often used for precision strikes like the lethal operation that killed Maj. Qassim Suleimani, who led the powerful Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in 2020.
The aircraft, which can cost up to $50 million, are in short supply after losses in the Iran war, where at least 45, or about a quarter of the overall U.S. fleet, have been destroyed. The transfer was described by two U.S. officials familiar with the decision who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on an operational matter. The move comes as the administration ramps up its military offensive against Latin American trafficking groups.
The top U.S. military commander for most of Latin America, Gen. Donovan, has said that the United States plans to expand operations from strikes on boats to strikes on land. The redeployment of drones is “a significant signal from the administration that we are getting serious,” said Francisco Palmieri, a former U.S. diplomat who helped shape U.S. counternarcotics strategy, including during the first Trump administration, and who served as acting ambassador to Colombia under President Joseph R.
Palmieri said he could not comment on the significance of the redeployment at the operational level. And experts say killing members of trafficking groups, even top leaders, does little to effectively stem the flow of drugs since those killed can be replaced. The MQ-9 Reaper, which can stay aloft for longer periods and carry a larger payload of missiles and bombs than its predecessor, the Predator, has been used in airstrikes against groups such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in the Middle East and Al Shabab in Africa.
An MQ-9 Reaper drone at Hancock Field Air National Guard base near Syracuse, N.Y.Credit...Heather Ainsworth for The New York Times The drone is capable of carrying thermal cameras as well as equipment that can intercept electronic communications, and it has been called the U.S. military’s “hunter-killer.” The Trump administration has made exerting greater influence in Latin America a priority, focusing especially on security. It has built a coalition of regional leaders that has pledged to help dismantle cartels; the group’s official slogan is “We do bad things to bad people.” Washington has previously justified lethal strikes on drug traffickers by claiming that they are enemy combatants. A range of legal experts say the administration’s lethal strikes on alleged drug boats off South America are illegal because those killed, even if they are committing crimes, do not pose a direct threat to the United States.
Colombia and Ecuador — home to trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations by Washington — are among a handful of nations that have agreed to conduct joint operations with the United States within their borders. It is not clear how many MQ-9 Reaper drones have been sent to each country, though the U.S. officials said it was a small number, or how many of the aircraft have already arrived. In September, CNN first reported that reapers assigned to the Pentagon’s Africa Command were likely to be sent to Latin America, but it was not clear exactly where the drones would go.
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