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Venezuelan air force destroys dozens of drug traffickers’ planes in 2025 — president

Nicolas Maduro stressed that as many as such 430 planes had been destroyed since the adoption of a law to combat drug trafficking

CARACAS, December 30. /TASS/. Venezuela’s air force destroyed 39 planes belonging to drug traffickers in 2025, President Nicolas Maduro told Venezolana de Televisión.

According to him, the air force wiped out eight planes in a border area with Brazil on Monday, bringing the total number of drug traffickers’ aircraft destroyed since the beginning of the year to 39.

Maduro stressed that as many as such 430 planes had been destroyed since the adoption of a law to combat drug trafficking.

Washington has been baselessly accusing the Venezuelan authorities of not doing enough to combat drug smuggling. The US Navy has deployed a carrier strike group led by USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, a nuclear submarine, and more than 16,000 troops to the Caribbean Sea. Since September, US forces have destroyed at least 28 vessels in the region, killing over 100 people. US media have repeatedly reported that the United States may soon begin striking drug cartel facilities in Venezuela.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on December 29 that a strike had been carried out on an area in Venezuela allegedly linked to drug trafficking.

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