Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel established under US Northern Command

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon established the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel (JIATF-CC) under US Northern Command, marking an expansion of the federal government’s efforts to counter cartel activity along the US-Mexico border.

"This is the next step in the whole-of-government approach to identify, disrupt, & dismantle cartel operations posing a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border," Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson said Friday on US social media company X.

Brig. Gen. Maurizio Calabrese will serve as the JIATF-CC director.

The JIATF-CC will operate in close coordination with the Homeland Security Task Force National Coordination Center to ensure seamless intelligence sharing among the Defense Deparment, law enforcement, and intelligence community partners.

After Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 last year, his anti-immigration stance quickly reverberated in Mexico. The US president reportedly demanded that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum curb migration or face tariffs on Mexican exports.

Following the Jan. 3 US military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said Mexico was next in line for strikes against drug cartels.