Trump Announces Ground Operations Against Mexican Drug Cartels

Washington, D.C. — US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that ground attacks against drug cartels will begin “very soon” as part of his administration’s actions to curb drug trafficking.

During a press conference at the White House—marking one year since his return to the presidency—the president highlighted the designation of Mexican and other Latin American drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

“Now, very soon, we are going to attack the drugs that come by land. We know exactly where they come from,” warned Donald Trump.

The president stated that his government has “almost eliminated” the entry of narcotics into the United States by sea, due to operations in Caribbean and Pacific waters against boats and vessels allegedly linked to cartels since last September.

“You have seen what we have done on the water. We are starting to do that on land. Land is actually much easier. (…) So when you do it on land, they don’t go to the water. Nobody is getting into the boat business right now,” he commented.

Trump had already insisted on the start of ground operations to stop drug cartels during an interview with Fox News on January 8, in which he reiterated that Mexico is controlled by these criminal groups.

“Now we are going to start attacking by land regarding the cartels. The cartels are controlling Mexico, it is very sad to see what has happened to that country, but the cartels are operating and killing 250 or 300 thousand people in our country every year,” he said.

Subsequently, the State Department demanded that the Mexican government provide “concrete and verifiable results to dismantle narcoterrorist networks,” in the context of a conversation between Secretary Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente.