Trump signals imminent land strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels

US President Donald Trump indicated that the United States will “very soon” begin targeting suspected Venezuelan drug trafficking networks by land, marking a shift from his administration’s primarily seaborne military campaign.

“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many,” Trump said during a Thanksgiving call with US service members, New York Post reports.

“Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore. Have you probably noticed that?” he noted.

The president highlighted the effectiveness of maritime operations against traffickers who send their “poisons” into the United States, claiming these substances “kill hundreds of thousands of people a year.” He noted that the strikes had already curtailed maritime smuggling by approximately 85 percent.

“From sending their poisons into the United States, where they kill hundreds of thousands of people a year — but we’re going to take care of that situation,” Trump said. “We’re already doing a lot… It’s about 85% stopped by sea.”

He added that with traffickers avoiding maritime routes, the US will begin interdicting them on land as well. “You probably noticed that now people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Trump stated.

In late October, Trump announced his intent to inform Congress of plans to strike cartel targets in Venezuela. “We’re going to go [to Congress]. I don’t see any loss in going — no reason not to,” he said at a White House event celebrating a federal crackdown that has resulted in the arrests of roughly 3,200 alleged cartel members over the past month.

Acknowledging anticipated political pushback, Trump addressed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, stating, “I’d like to just tell you, ‘Let’s go.’ We’ll go. We’re going to tell them what we’re going to do, and I think they’re going to probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics.”

Trump has been signaling land-based operations since September, when the administration began targeting vessels smuggling drugs off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. Since then, U.S. forces have carried out at least 21 fatal strikes on maritime trafficking routes.

By Vafa Guliyeva