US President Donald Trump says American forces have carried out a strike on a drug-laden vessel that reportedly departed from Venezuela.
President Trump described the operation while speaking at the White House on Tuesday.
“When you come out and when you leave the room, you’ll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat… And there’s more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time. And these came out of Venezuela.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed the vessel was operated by what he called a “designated narco-terrorist organisation.”
The United States has reportedly deployed warships in the southern Caribbean with the aim of following through on President Trump’s pledge to crack down on drug cartels.
The Venezuelan government has not yet responded to the announcement.
Contacted for a response on this developing story, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she, along with most of the country, is happy that the US naval deployment is having success in its mission.
The Prime Minister added that the US government has repeatedly stated that going after the drug cartels is their objective and they have begun to deliver.
She said illegally trafficked drugs and arms have caused death and destruction in our society over the last twenty-five years, and our country has been ravaged by bloody violence and addiction because of the greed of the cartels.
The Prime Minister continued, “The restriction of illegal guns, drugs and human trafficking will decrease the violence in the region and in particular our country.”
She said, “May God bless and protect the members of the US military who are engaged in the drug interdiction mission. Their efforts will save many lives in our country and the region.”