President Trump announces US will soon begin stopping Venezuela drug trafficking by land, following 85% success rate in maritime operations.
Meta Description: President Trump announces US will soon begin stopping Venezuela drug trafficking by land, following 85% success rate in maritime operations.
PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump announced that efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon.”
Speaking during a Thanksgiving video call with US troops from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump claimed significant progress in maritime interdiction efforts.
“We’ve almost stopped — it’s about 85% stopped by sea,” Trump told military personnel.
“And we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” he added.
The announcement further escalates tensions with Venezuela, which claims the US anti-drug campaign aims at regime change.
Trump has deployed substantial US military assets to the region, including an aircraft carrier group, with a stated mission of tackling transnational crime and drug trafficking.
Caracas maintains the operation is actually a ploy to overthrow leftist president Nicolas Maduro.
The United States considers Maduro an illegitimate leader and a drug lord, charges he denies.
Several military groups Trump addressed were actively participating in his “Southern Spear” anti-drug operation.
US forces have so far only announced targeting alleged drug traffickers in international waters.
An AFP tally of publicly released figures indicates at least 83 people have been killed in these operations.
The United States has provided no details to substantiate claims that those targeted in over 20 strikes were actually traffickers. – AFP
