WASHINGTON, December 9. /TASS/. The United States may look at expanding its naval anti-drug operation in the Caribbean onto Colombia and Mexico, US President Donald Trump said.
"I would. Sure. I would," he told Politico when asked whether he would be ready to "something similar" to what is being done to Venezuela in respect of these two countries.
According to Trump, the US military is targeting boats that, according to US intel data, are involved in smuggling drugs to the United States from Venezuela. "Those boats come in largely from Venezuela so I would say that’s a significant [part of drugs]," he noted, adding that "every time we knock out a boat, we save 25,000 American lives."
He also reiterated his recent words that the US military will soon be striking drug-related targets on the ground.
Washington has accused Caracas of not doing enough to combat drug smuggling. Under this pretext, the US deployed large forces to the Caribbean. A strike group of US warships led by the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, o nuclear-powered submarine, and more than 16,000 troops have reportedly been deployed by the United States to the Caribbean. Since September, the US has destroyed at least 20 boats and eliminated more than 80 people allegedly involved in drug trafficking from Venezuela.
On November 29, US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that all "airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers" should consider the airspace over and around Venezuela "closed in its entirety." According to The New York Times, US President Donald Trump has authorized CIA covert operations in Venezuela. According to the US media, Washington may begin delivering strikes on drug cartels in Venezuela in the near future.