Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS) welcomed members of local civic groups to its Key West headquarters on May 19 to demonstrate the unit’s operations.
The visit included Key West Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez, along with members of the Key West Military Affairs Committee, the Navy League Key West Council, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3911, American Legion Post 168 and American Legion Post 28.
“Key West is both a critical location for our national security as well as a welcoming home to our military members,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Jeffrey Randall, director of JIATFS. “JIATFS is committed to being a good member of the Keys community for the long term and we were glad to have this opportunity to show our community partners a little more about what we do inside our headquarters.”
Visitors toured the Joint Operations Center, which is inside the military perimeter in downtown Key West, near the Southernmost Point. Watchstanders monitor JIATFS’ joint operations area 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The visitors also heard about the unit’s activities, including a progress update on construction of its new headquarters building, slated to open in the early 2030s.
The visit is part of JIATFS’ continuing efforts to host local community organizations, according to a press release.
Founded in 1989 in Key West, JIATFS is a U.S. Department of Defense-led organization that facilitates U.S. law enforcement agency and partner nation drug interdiction efforts in the Americas. It includes the sharing and fusion of intelligence information with those agencies and partner nations to enable interdictions of these narcotics movements in international waters before they reach their intended destination. The organization has a long history of successfully dismantling drug-trafficking organizations, including interdicting a record-setting 455.8 metric tons of cocaine in fiscal year 2025.
