U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the United States will “very soon” expand its campaign against Venezuelan drug traffickers to include land-based operations, building on previous efforts that have primarily targeted maritime routes.
Speaking in a virtual address to U.S. military personnel, Trump said traffickers have increasingly moved away from sea routes, prompting the administration to focus on operations on land. “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” he said.
The announcement is part of a wider crackdown on narcotics networks linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Since September, U.S. forces have conducted more than 20 strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific, which Washington says have disrupted significant illicit drug shipments.
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The move to land-based interventions represents an escalation in the campaign. While the White House described the strategy as necessary to stop what it calls “poison” entering the United States, some regional governments and human rights experts cautioned that such operations could heighten tensions and increase the risk of escalation in the region.
