The Trump administration confirmed an unprecedented military strike this week against a cartel-operated vessel off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in U.S. efforts to combat international drug trafficking, as reported by Fox News.
On Tuesday, U.S. Marines targeted a ship operated by Tren de Aragua, a violent gang based in Venezuela that the Trump administration designated as a terrorist organization earlier this year.
The strike killed 11 members of the cartel and was described by officials as a turning point in how the United States will deal with transnational narcotics networks.
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For decades, U.S. counter-narcotics policy has focused on intercepting and seizing drug shipments, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear Wednesday that those tactics are being replaced by a more aggressive approach.
Speaking during a trip to Mexico focused on arms and drug smuggling, Rubio said, “The President of the United States is going to wage war on narco-terrorist organizations.”
He added that previous seize-and-apprehend policies “don’t work,” because cartels anticipate losing a small percentage of shipments and factor those losses into their operations. “What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” Rubio said.
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Isaias Medina, a former Venezuelan diplomat and now a dissident, told Fox News Digital that the operation showed “the gloves are off.”
He said the strike was significant because the cartel has operated with the backing of Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which he accused of being linked to narco-terrorism and crimes against humanity.
“Safe harbors in international waters are no longer sanctuaries for traffickers and smugglers,” Medina said.
The Maduro government responded by condemning the strike. On Monday, Maduro claimed the deployment of U.S. forces near Venezuelan waters represented “the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years.”
He accused President Trump of attempting to engineer regime change.
President Trump has maintained a long-standing opposition to Maduro’s leadership in Venezuela. During his first administration, he offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction.
The strike continues a policy of pressure against the regime while also signaling a shift in how Washington deals with international drug cartels.
Juan Cruz, a former National Security Council director for Western Hemisphere affairs, said he does not believe the strike was directly aimed at regime change.
“I can’t imagine this deployment had that specifically as an objective,” Cruz said, though he added that Trump would consider such an outcome a political victory if it occurred.
U.S. officials stressed that the Marines followed strict rules of engagement during the strike, which targeted a vessel believed to be transporting narcotics bound for the United States.
The administration signaled it would continue to pursue similar actions against cartels using Venezuela and other regions as staging grounds.
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