The US is prepared to launch strikes on Venezuelan military bases as President Trump ramps up the pressure on the country’s narcoterrorist dictator, Nicolas Maduro, as the administration works to cut off the regime’s drug and criminal operations, The Post has learned.
The operation — which could happen within days or even hours — aims to dismantle Maduro’s Cartel de los Soles command structure and target military installations that protect the Maduro regime’s drug trafficking activities, a source close to the White House told The Post.
US officials have accused Cartel de los Soles of trafficking roughly 500 tons of cocaine to the US and Europe annually, working alongside gangs like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other criminal syndicates.
Trump first deployed warships to the waters around Venezuela in August, starting with seven warships carrying 4,500 troops. That number has since grown to roughly 10,000 — and the addition of an aircraft carrier.
“The president is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when the deployments were first announced.
Those troops have since killed roughly 57 accused narcoterrorists in a series of 13 strikes on at least 14 drug boats, as of Friday.
While prior strikes in the region targeted the drug traffickers themselves, the coming attacks on land are intended to take out the cartel’s hierarchy, according to the Miami Herald, which first reported the story.
It comes after the Pentagon has at least twice deployed B-52 bombers to fly near the coast of Venezuela over the past two weeks on “show of force” missions.
While it’s unclear if Maduro himself is directly targeted in the coming strikes, officials have long suggested his days — at least in office — are numbered.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has called Maduro “one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers,” highlighting his deep ties to organized crime and the threat he poses to national security.
This summer, she doubled the Justice Department’s reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to a record $50 million — twice as high as the bounty once placed on Osama bin Ladin’s head.
Other key regime figures, such as Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, have rewards worth up to $25 million for their arrests.
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