Officials from The Bahamas attended the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) Forum in Panama City, Panama, in August 2026, joining in regional discussions on strengthening security cooperation throughout the Western Hemisphere. Bahamian Minister of National Security Myles K. LaRoda led the delegation, which also included Commodore Floyd P. Moxey, commander of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), and Capt. Derrick Ferguson.
The Americas Counter Cartel Coalition Forum is a conference that brings together defense and security ministers from partner nations with a focus on coordinating military and intelligence operations against transnational drug cartels and narco-terrorist networks. Participating countries include Argentina, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. Colombia officially joined as the coalition’s 19th member during the conference.
Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said the A3C signals a decisive shift in the fight against cartels and narco-terrorists, and that A3C members share a common understanding of the threat posed by the criminal networks. “Coalition campaigning creates systemic friction on these networks,” he said, according to a War Department news release. “Our strength is in our complementary capabilities. Persistence and unity will drive scale and will drive victory.”
At the forum, Donovan said A3C members decided on next steps, which include refining network campaign plans, designating roles and lead nations, establishing working groups with specific objectives and milestones, and assessing coalition campaign metrics. “Between now and November, we are going to write an A3C campaign plan,” he said. “We will staff it with our teammates and our members here in the room, and we’ll approve it by November.”
In the forum’s keynote address, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth emphasized that the nations in the coalition are “united by heritage, history and geography in this new world. We share the same interests and the same civilizational soul.”
He said the U.S. and A3C partner nations are firmly committed to working to “degrade, dismantle and destroy narco-terrorist networks.” He said the cartel-busting coalition’s motto will be: “We do bad things to bad people.”
Moxey reaffirmed the RBDF’s commitment to supporting regional security efforts and working with international partners to address common threats. “The Royal Bahamas Defence Force will continue its commitment to assisting with regional security wherever possible. The A3C initiative, in its totality, represents a significant step along a path toward creating a safer Western Hemisphere for The Bahamas and our regional partners.”