The leaders of Latin America’s narco states are in panic mode amid President Donald Trump’s authorization for the U.S. military to target cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that U.S. forces destroyed a vessel carrying narcotics from Venezuela during operations in the Caribbean.
“We just over the last few minutes, literally, shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “These came out of Venezuela.”
He later posted:
Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere. The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the action in a post on social media. “As [President Trump] announced moments ago, today the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization.”
In Mexico, debates over U.S. intervention got so intense that Senators brawled in their own chamber.
Soon after Trump authorized the military to target cartels, Mexico handed over 26 criminals to the U.S., with many of them leaders of dangerous drug cartels and human smuggling organizations. Among the prisoners were leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generation (CJNG) and Los Zetas cartels.
The cartels hold considerable influence throughout Mexico.
“Corrupt dealings between the cartels and the Mexican government go as high up as the President Claudia Sheinbaum’s office, with two former state ministers being charged with involvement in a drug trafficking operation,” The Daily Caller reported.
Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro vowed to “defend our seas” in response to recent U.S. military deployments off the nation’s coast.
The U.S. has sent three Aegis-class destroyers to the southern Caribbean, each equipped with guided missiles.
Maduro reportedly mobilized thousands of militia to “ensure coverage of the entire national territory.”
Venezuela has deployed its own warships and drones to its coastline as U.S. forces bear down on the region.
Multiple cartels and gangs operate out of Venezuela, including the now-infamous Tren de Aragua, which originated from a brutal prison in the nation and made its way to the U.S. during the Biden era.
The Trump Administration said Cartel de los Soles is a major reason for sanctions and deployments to the southern Caribbean, with the Treasury Department accusing Maduro himself of running the criminal organization.
“The Treasury Department will continue to execute on President Trump’s pledge to put America First by cracking down on violent organizations including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, and their facilitators, like Cartel de los Soles,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing sanctions against the cartel.