WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump told U.S. service members on Wednesday that the United States could “very soon” begin targeting alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers on land, expanding a months-long military campaign that has so far focused on maritime operations in the Caribbean. Speaking virtually during Thanksgiving remarks, Trump said the U.S. has intercepted “about 85%” of narcotics shipments by sea and indicated land operations may follow.
Since early September, the Pentagon has intensified deployments under Operation Southern Spear, carrying out nearly two dozen strikes on boats it says were transporting drugs and killing at least 82 people. The USS Gerald R. Ford’s recent arrival in the Caribbean marks one of the region’s largest U.S. force concentrations in decades.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated the Cartel de los Soles — a group Washington alleges is tied to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Legal experts note that the designation does not itself authorize lethal force, and U.S. officials, including the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, say no strikes inside Venezuela are currently planned.
NBC News reported that narcotraffickers operating in the Caribbean primarily move cocaine to Europe, not the United States, complicating the administration’s public justification for expanded action. Trump has continued to suggest he remains open to diplomatic engagement with Maduro even as military pressure increases.
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