The US president has been weighing up whether to take military action over suspected drug trafficking
The US start taking action to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land “very soon”, Donald Trump has said.
“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” he said.
“The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Trump said, during a speech via video to US military service members.
“We warn them: Stop sending poison to our country,” Trump said.
Trump has been evaluating whether to take military action against Venezuela, to combat what the US claims is President Nicolas Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs.
Earlier this week the US government designated the Cartel de los Soles, which it alleges is headed by Maduro, as a foreign terrorist organisation, giving it greater powers to target and dismantle.
Maduro has denied the allegations and says they are a “ridiculous fabrication” meant to “justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela”.
The Venezuelan communications ministry has not yet commented on Trump’s latest remarks.
US forces in the region so far have focused on counter-narcotics operations, carrying out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, killing at least 83 people.
Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid worsening relations with Venezuela.
In recent weeks military aircraft including B-52 bombers have been spotted on tracking websites flying off the northern coast of South America and north of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
The US military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela, including the world’s largest warship, aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, and its carrier strike group.
There are dozens of F-18 Super Hornet jets on board the carrier, which the Pentagon said would bolster US firepower and make it easier for the US to attack air defence systems in Venezuela.
With agencies
