Washington, Dec 13 (IANS) US President Donald Trump claimed his administration had dramatically curtailed drug trafficking into the United States, warning that those responsible could face military-style action, including land strikes.
“We knocked out 96 per cent of the drugs coming in by water, ” Trump said at the White House. “Every one of those boats you see get shot down, you just saved 25, 000 American lives.”
Trump said enforcement efforts were expanding beyond maritime routes. “Now we’re starting by land, and by land is a lot easier, ” he said.
Asked specifically about Venezuela, Trump declined to provide operational details but broadened the scope of potential action. “It’s not only land strikes on Venezuela, ” he said. “It’s land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs and killing our people.”
Framing drug trafficking as a national security crisis, Trump said the human toll rivalled that of war. “If we were in a war and we lost 300, 000 people in a year… that’s what the real number is, ” he said.
Trump claimed the US border situation had been transformed. “A year and a half ago, we had millions of people pouring through, ” he said. “Now we have nobody coming in through our border.”
“We have a strong country, ” Trump added. “We have a country that’s respected.”
The President also criticised Colombia, saying, “Colombia has at least three cocaine factories, ” while asserting that drug routes by sea had largely disappeared. “You don’t even see fishing boats on the water, ” he said.
Trump declined to outline specific military plans, saying, “I don’t want to say that now, ” but reiterated that traffickers were legitimate targets. “People who are bringing in drugs to our country are targets, ” he said.
He insisted that aggressive action was necessary to protect American families. “We’re not going to let people kill 300, 000 people a year with drugs, ” Trump said.
The United States has long combined law enforcement, military support and international cooperation to combat drug trafficking across Latin America and the Caribbean.
India closely tracks the US counter-narcotics strategy as transnational drug networks increasingly intersect with organised crime, money laundering and regional security challenges that affect South Asia and global supply chains.