U.S. preparing options for military strikes on drug targets inside Venezuela, sources say

Washington – US military officials are developing options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuela, and strikes inside this country could potentially start in a few weeks, four sources told NBC News.

These sources are two US officials familiar with planning and two other familiar sources with discussions. They spoke under the cover of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss plans publicly.

The strike inside Venezuela would be another climbing of the Trump administration military campaign against alleged drug targets and its position towards the government of Venezuela.

In recent weeks, the American army has struck at least three boats from Venezuela would have transported narco-transfers and drugs that could threaten the Americans, said President Donald Trump on Truth Social. The administration did not provide proof that the drugs appeared on all these boats. But an official of the Dominican Republic, alongside the United States Embassy, ​​said on Sunday at a press conference that drugs were found in the water after a strike.

Strikes inside Venezuela could occur in the coming weeks, but the president has not yet approved anything, the four people said. Two of them and an additional civil servant familiar with the discussions said that the recent military escalation of the United States is partly the result of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who is not enough, according to the administration, to stop the flow of illegal drugs in his country.

The mainly discussed plans mainly focus on drone strikes against members and leadership of drug trafficking groups, as well as the targeting of drug laboratories, the four sources said.

Asked how, the White House referred NBC News to this previous statement from the president: “We will see what is happening. Venezuela sends their gang members, their drug traffickers and their drugs. It is not acceptable.” The Pentagon refused to comment.

Some officials of the Trump administration are disappointed that the United States Military climbing does not seem to have weakened Maduro’s grip on power or caused a significant response, according to official discussions with discussions. The White House has faced more perspective on the strikes against drug boats than expected, which prompted the administration to think carefully in the next steps, according to discussions.

This includes discussions between the United States and Venezuela through the leaders of the Middle East as intermediaries, NBC News learned. According to a senior administration official, Maduro spoke to these intermediaries of concessions that he would be willing to make to stay in power. The senior administration official would not specify which countries act as intermediaries beyond saying that they are allies.

Trump is “ready to use all the elements of the American power to prevent drugs from flooding in our country and translating the leaders in court,” said the senior administration.

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Maduro previously denied any role in drug trafficking and said on several occasions that the United States was trying to force him in power.

Asked about the possibility of American strikes in her country, Anibal Sanchez Ismayel, a Venezuelan political analyst, told NBC News in a WhatsApp message: “A Venezuelan attack on the soil would have consequences for diplomatic protests to an increase in political persecution of those they classify as collaborators.

The civil servant familiar with the discussions and another familiar source with the thinking of the administration believe that the United States striking inside Venezuela would not be surprising given other recent events.

The United States has deployed at least eight ships with more than 4,000 staff members in the waters of the region and sent F-35 fighter planes to Puerto Rico, according to the American army.

“You do not move as many resources there without looking at all the options,” said the source familiar with the thought of the administration.

This is particularly true because the maintenance of thousands of American military forces, ships and planes in the region could start to have an impact on deployments elsewhere.

“You cannot keep this kind of firepower in the Caribbean forever,” said one of the familiar sources with discussions.

In 2020, during Trump’s first term, the Ministry of Justice charged Maduro for drug trafficking. The Trump administration accused Maduro of working with cartels which, according to him, send members of cocaine, fentanyl and gangs in the United States, the administration recently increased an American reward for Maduro’s arrest to $ 50 million. Venezuela is not an important cocaine producer, but is considered a major starting point for flights carrying the drug elsewhere. We don’t think we are an illegal fentanyl source brought to the United States, most of which come from Mexico.

Trump administration officials have not excluded the change of regime as another objective of these military operations, and they itself have increased pressure on Maduro. NBC News previously reported that the objective of the administration, according to the familiar source with his reflection, is to force Maduro to make reckless decisions which could ultimately have fun being ousted without American boots on the ground.

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was one of the votes to defend the change of regime, according to the familiar source with the thought of the administration.

Earlier this month, Maduro sent a letter to Trump about the opening of a dialogue, according to an article on social networks of the Venezuelan government. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump had received the letter but sentenced her.

“Frankly, I think there have been a lot of lies that have been repeated by Maduro in this letter, and the position of the administration on Venezuela has not changed,” Leavitt said at a White House press point on Monday. “We consider the Maduro regime as illegitimate, and the president has clearly shown that he was ready to use all the means necessary to stop the illegal traffic of deadly drugs of the Venezuelan regime in the United States of America.”

The United States has continued to coordinate with Venezuela on certain issues, in particular on continuous expulsion flights, the person responsible for discussions said. Last Friday, this manager said 54 flights of this type.

Ric Grenell, who is the special presidential envoy for special missions, was in routine communication with Trump and continues to push diplomacy with Venezuela as an option, according to the same civil servant as well as a familiar source with negotiations.