Washington DC - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is reportedly ordering military officials to sign a non-disclosure agreement in relation to operations in Latin America.

Three US military officials told Reuters that they were recently ordered to sign the agreement as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up his war against alleged drug traffickers.

Since September, the US military has carried out at least 13 deadly air strikes on what the Trump administration claims were boats operated by South American cartels carrying narcotics, killing at least 57 people.

The Trump administration has refused to provide any evidence that the victims were drug traffickers or gang members or that the vessels had drugs on them.

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As a result, experts have slammed the strikes as illegal extrajudicial executions, while local authorities have deemed them to be "murder."

Hegseth, who has faced countless scandals since being appointed to his role, has also been trying to weed out anyone who is not loyal to the administration's MAGA agenda from his department.

In recent months, he has ordered officials to undergo random polygraph tests and pushed restrictions on reporters' access to the Pentagon.

During a recent speech to troops in Japan, Trump declared the US military is "no longer politically correct," adding he will do "whatever it takes" to win.