US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US would soon launch strikes to stop narcotics shipments heading from Venezuela to the United States via land routes.
“It’s going to start on land soon,” Trump said. In recent weeks, the US president has repeatedly threatened to crack down on narcotics smuggled across the country.
Trump made a similar statement earlier this month. CNN quoted him during a cabinet meeting around Dec. 3: “We’re going to start doing those strikes on land as well.” He said, “We know where they live. We know where the bad guys live, and we’re going to start very soon.”
He then allegedly threatened to take military action against any country smuggling drugs into the US.
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“Anyone who makes it and sells it into our country is under attack,” the US president told reporters after a cabinet meeting, talking about the issue of cocaine coming from Colombia.
US launches strikes against alleged drug ships. Military action on Venezuelan territory would mean a major escalation that could potentially develop into a full-scale military conflict.
US imposes new sanctions targeting Maduro’s family
The United States on Thursday issued new sanctions targeting Venezuela, placing curbs on three nephews of President Nicolas Maduro’s wife, as well as six oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as Washington ramps up pressure on Caracas.
The action came as the US conducts a large-scale military build-up in the southern Caribbean and as US President Donald Trump campaigns to oust Maduro.
Maduro and his government vehemently deny links to crime and say the US is seeking regime change to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
“The imperialists thought our people would waver, but here nobody wavered and nobody will ever waver,” Maduro said, referring to previous sanctions, as he cheered on local manufacturing during a visit to Caracas’ Pinto Salinas district, according to Reuters.
Trump said on Wednesday that the US had seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Oil tanker seized off Venezuelan coast
Earlier this week, President Trump said Washington seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: “As you probably know, we just seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela. A big tanker, a very big one. In fact, the biggest that’s ever been seized.”
Later, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi confirmed the seizure of the tanker, saying the ship was carrying “sanctioned oil” from Venezuela and Iran.
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“The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, today executed a warrant to seize an oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi said in a post on X, which shared unclassified footage of the seizure.
She said: “For many years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in a network of illegal transportation of oil supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
“This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely — and our investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security, to prevent the shipment of sanctioned oil continues,” Bondi said in a post on X, sharing unclassified footage of the seizure, her statement added.
