US Targets Venezuela Drug Routes: Why Cocaine Crackdown Raises Eyebrows

According to officials, the President has also not ruled out taking a diplomatic approach with Venezuela to stem the flow of drugs into the US, even after talks were cut off with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks.

"There are plans on the table that the president is considering," an official said regarding the potential operations, as quoted by CNN.

Venezuela is not known to be a major source of cocaine, but the Trump administration has been aggressively trying to link Maduro to the drug trade, CNN mentioned.

In a sign of a major potential military escalation, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the US Navy's most advanced aircraft carrier strike group, currently in Europe, to the Caribbean, with US forces being sent there. CNN also mentioned that Trump has authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.

Another official, directly involved in some of the discussions, said that many proposals have been submitted to the president. A third official said the planning is happening across the government, but the focus at the highest levels is currently going after the drugs inside Venezuela.

The United States has deployed more than 4,500 Marines and sailors, along with a significant portion of its naval and air assets in the Caribbean, in an effort to strengthen operations against alleged cartels and demonstrate military power in the region.

CNN has previously reported that Trump has also been weighing strikes inside Venezuela itself as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening Maduro, and Trump himself has mused publicly about operations on land. The president, however, has not yet made clear what that would entail, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested drug "routes" might be targeted. While talking about the possibility of pushing for regime change, CNN mentioned that some officials are saying that the drug campaign could lead to the ouster of Maduro. However, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Venezuela is not a cocaine-producing country.Almost all coca crops - the main ingredient of cocaine - are concentrated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. An annual report from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published in March did not mention Venezuela in the four pages dedicated to cocaine trafficking, citing instead Ecuador, Central America and Mexico.

But administration officials still say some drug trafficking does go through Venezuela and point out that Maduro was indicted in 2020 on federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.

Officials have also said that President Trump is "not in a rush" to make a decision, given his focus his currently on his trip to Asia and negotiations with Russia and Ukraine on ending their war.

Earlier, Trump said, according to CNN, that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers abroad without Congress first passing an official declaration of war.

"I'm not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war," he said. "I think we're just going to kill people who are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're going to kill them, you know, they're going to be like, dead."

The buildup of US forces has also raised questions about the Trump administration's intent in the region. Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell said in a statement posted on X that the move of the Gerald R. Ford strike group and its associated air wing was meant to "dismantle Transnational Criminal Organisations and counter narco-terrorism."

- ANI