The Pentagon is moving MQ-9 Reaper drones to South America, mostly from U.S. Africa Command, with Colombia and Ecuador as the first recipients. According to the Latin Times, the deployment gives Washington surveillance capability and, under certain conditions, the means to carry out precision strikes on drug-trafficking targets on land. That would go well beyond the strikes on boats at sea that defined the campaign’s first phase.

Colombia is to receive three MQ-9s on loan, with an option to buy a fourth. The number going to Ecuador has not been disclosed. Ecuador’s constitution bars foreign military bases, a ban voters reaffirmed by a 60% margin in a November 2025 referendum, yet the drones are already operating there. Ecuadorian magazine Vistazo reported that the transfers are likely to extend to other South American partners.