New planning by U.S. military officials contemplates strikes—potentially including drone attacks—against trafficking networks operating inside Venezuela, although no presidential approval has been given.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. military is actively drafting plans for strikes on drug traffickers inside Venezuela, according to four sources who spoke with NBC News. The options remain under review and have not been authorized by President Donald Trump, who has insisted that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro leads international trafficking networks—a claim Maduro denies.
Discussions between the U.S. and Venezuela are reportedly being carried out through Middle Eastern intermediaries, underscoring the sensitivity of the talks.
The consideration of expanded military action follows recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean allegedly carrying Venezuelan traffickers. Trump highlighted those strikes in a speech to the United Nations, warning: “To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence.”
At least three deadly strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels have already been carried out by U.S. forces, with the administration portraying them as part of a broader effort to curb the flow of narcotics into the country. Officials familiar with the escalation told NBC that Trump believes Maduro has failed to take meaningful steps to stem trafficking operations.
A White House statement to NBC reinforced that stance: “We’ll see what happens. Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It’s not acceptable.”
Venezuelan political analyst Anibal Sanchez Ismayel told NBC in a WhatsApp message that U.S. strikes on Venezuelan territory would provoke significant fallout. He warned such action “would have consequences from diplomatic protests to an increase in political persecutions of those they classify as collaborators, to further uniting the population with the need to defend sovereignty reaffirmed.”
The potential for direct strikes on Venezuelan soil marks a sharp escalation in U.S. counter-narcotics efforts and signals a widening confrontation with Caracas as Washington weighs how far it is willing to go to disrupt trafficking networks tied to the Maduro government.