Buenos Aires hosts global DEA summit on drug trafficking

Buenos Aires will become the capital of the fight against international drug trafficking this week. The Libertad Palace, just a few meters from the Casa Rosada in downtown Buenos Aires, will host the 40th International Drug Enforcement Conference from Tuesday through Thursday. The event is organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Argentina’s Ministry of Security. Between 400 and 600 delegates are expected to attend, including senior law enforcement officials from dozens of countries. The selection of Buenos Aires is another sign of the strong relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei. The relationship has been defined by the Argentine leader’s unwavering support for policies coming from Washington, including efforts to expand U.S. influence across Latin America.

The meeting, which is closed to the media, is being held under strict security measures and a high degree of secrecy. The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires has limited its comments to saying that participants will engage in “high-level strategic discussions aimed at strengthening operational cooperation, sharing critical intelligence, and coordinating enforcement priorities against narcotics trafficking, international money laundering, and narco-terrorism.”

Although top DEA officials and representatives of other U.S. agencies are expected to attend, their names have not yet been made public. Ideological differences will not be an obstacle this time, as demonstrated by the participation of Mexico’s secretary of security and citizen protection, Omar García Harfuch, despite previous disagreements between the DEA and the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Representing the Argentine government will be Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva. Her team views the summit as a sign of support for international cooperation efforts. U.S. officials share that assessment, saying the conference “underscores the enduring partnership between the United States and Argentina, and the broader international community’s continued commitment to disrupting the networks that fuel the global drug trade and threaten regional and international security.”

Planning for the conference began in 2025, during Patricia Bullrich’s tenure as Argentina’s security minister. During the previous decade, under conservative president Mauricio Macri, Bullrich also led efforts to rebuild South America’s relationship with the DEA after years of left-wing governments that had been reluctant to allow Washington’s involvement in operations within their borders. In 2017, Bullrich hosted a regional anti-drug-trafficking meeting at which she unveiled tougher border and security policies, measures that were intensified after Milei took office in 2023.

The conference coincides with a broader shift to the right in many Latin American countries, most recently in Peru and Colombia, and with Washington’s efforts to regain influence in the region. In March, Trump unveiled the Shield of the Americas in Miami, a new alliance with 12 regional leaders aligned with his political outlook. The initiative aims to combat drug trafficking, mass migration, and China’s growing influence in the hemisphere.

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