Senior military and security leaders from five nations and a regional body met in Key West, Florida, December 2-4, 2025, to bolster an international endeavor to disrupt transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
The biannual meeting known as the Trilateral talks (TRILAT) took place at the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) headquarters, located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West. The talks reasserted participants’ commitment to combat illicit trafficking in the Caribbean, culminating with the signing of a joint charter that solidified allied unity and improvements for future counternarcotics operations.
The TRILAT talks originally involved three of the Command Task Groups (CTGs) operating under JIATF-S, the United States, France, and the Netherlands, as active participants, but have since expanded to include the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Regional Security System (RSS), headquartered in Barbados, as observers. These additions significantly increase the potential scope and assets dedicated to the effort.
The three-day conference facilitated key leader engagement to share information and explore future collaboration. Discussions focused on evolving counternarcotic operations in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic with a focus on updating combined agreements, staff processes, capabilities, and re-affirming allied strength and unity in the region. Significant improvements were made to operations planning, intelligence sharing, and interdiction effectiveness. Advances included integrated planning of conventional and information operations and expansion of intelligence sharing with partners outside of the JIATF-S CTGs.
According to the JIATF-S Caribbean Plans Chief, “JIATF-S works very closely with our partner nations, particularly France, Netherlands, Canada, and [the] U.K. as well [as] various Caribbean partners. We share the common threat of illicit traffickers and have worked together for decades to cooperate and deconflict activities in the region.”
U.S. Rear Admiral Jeffrey Randall, JIATF-S director; Royal Netherlands Navy Rear Admiral Lower Half (RDML) Walter Hansen, commander of the Netherlands Forces in the Caribbean; and French Navy Rear Admiral Jean-Baptiste Soubrier, commander of the French Armed Forces in the Antilles, restated continuing agreements to combat illicit trafficking.
According to a senior member of the French delegation, authorized to speak on behalf of the command, “France reiterated its commitment to cooperation, joint progress, improved resources deconfliction, and a ‘Way Ahead’ to counter illicit drug flow in the Lesser Antilles and Trans-Atlantic vectors, in accordance with international maritime rules.”
JIATF-S oversees Campaign MARTILLO (Hammer), a multinational detection, monitoring, targeting, and interdiction operation conducted by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels and aircraft, U.S. federal law enforcement, and military and law enforcement from 21 partner nations spanning North, Central, South America, and Europe. Supported by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Campaign MARTILLO denies TCOs shipment routes for narcotics and other illicit commodities.
The task force’s efforts are seeing major success, fueled in part by advanced technology. JIATF-S operates an artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) joint operations center (JOC) to enhance its operations.
In fiscal year 2025, JIATF-S-supported operations resulted in the seizure and disruption of 455.8 metric tons (over 1 million pounds) of cocaine. The multinational agency is reportedly on track to “shatter that record” this year, due to increased intelligence and operational integration.
According to the JIATF-S Division Chief of Development and Integration, “[the] JIATF-S Innovation and Technology Directorate, through its AI Battle Lab, is providing a decisive information advantage… using AI to fuse thousands of data points into clear, actionable intelligence that allows their integrated, multinational team to make faster, smarter decisions. The result is a direct improvement in how [JIATF-S] facilitates interdictions and keeps their partners deconflicted.”
Staff operations continue post-conference as the allies efficiently adapt and innovate, increasing their maximum pressure campaign through facilitating interdictions on TCOs operating in the region.
