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President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented war against cartels and has threatened narco-terrorists, saying he will “blow you out of existence” as his administration seeks to curb the influx of drugs into the U.S.
The White House sent lawmakers a memo Sept. 30 informing them that the U.S. is now participating in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug smugglers — on top of conducting four fatal strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean since September.
The Department of War recently announced a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the Southern Command area of responsibility, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The aim of the task force is to “crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe,” Hegseth wrote on X Friday. “The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold.”
HOW TRUMP’S STRIKES AGAINST ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS ARE RESHAPING THE CARTEL BATTLEFIELD: ‘ONE-WAY TICKET’
These recent developments suggest that Trump is eyeing targets within Venezuela, not just those within international waters, according to Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council international affairs think tank.
“This is a sign that President Trump is taking the US war on drugs in Latin America to the next level,” Ramsey said in a Monday email to Fox News Digital. “By involving the military, the president is going after drug cartels in a way that no previous US administration has dared to so far. I think it is likely that we will see the Pentagon evaluate targets inside Venezuela.”
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he ordered a lethal strike on a vessel linked to a designated terrorist organization operating in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility Sept. 19, 2025. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
Additional strikes could target more drug shipments or drug flights, which often take off from covert airfields…
