Trump warns of land strikes on Venezuela drug shipment

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will soon begin strikes to interdict narcotics shipments making their way from Venezuela to the United States via land routes.

“It's going to be starting on land pretty soon,” Trump said. The US President has repeatedly threatened to begin strikes on narcotics being smuggled overland in recent weeks.

Trump had made a similar statement earlier this month, too. He was quoted as saying by CNN during a cabinet meeting around December 3, "We’re going to start doing those strikes on land too." He said, “We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live, and we’re going to start that very soon.”

He had then reportedly threatened to take military action against any country trafficking drugs into the US.

"Anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack," the US President told reporters after the Cabinet meeting, speaking on the issue of cocaine coming in from Colombia.

The US has been carrying out strikes against alleged drug boats. A military action in Venezuelan territory would mark a major escalation, potentially spiralling into a full-blown military conflict.

US issues fresh sanctions targeting Maduro's family

On Thursday, the US issued new sanctions targeting Venezuela, imposing curbs on three nephews of President Nicolas Maduro's wife, as well as six crude oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as Washington ramps up pressure on Caracas.

The action came as the US executes a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean and as US President Donald Trump campaigns for Maduro's ouster.

Maduro and his government have vehemently denied links to crime and say that the US is pursuing regime change in order to take control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

"The imperialists thought that our people would falter, but here no one faltered and no one will ever falter," Maduro was quoted by Reuters as saying in reference to previous sanctions, as he cheered local production of goods during a visit to the Pinto Salinas neighborhood in Caracas.

On Wednesday, Trump said the US had seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Oil tanker seized off Venezuela's coast

Earlier this week, President Trump said that Washington had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, "As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. A large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized, actually."

Later, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi confirmed the seizure of the tanker, noting that the ship was transporting "sanctioned oil" from Venezuela and Iran.

“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi said in a post on X, sharing unclassified visuals of the seizure.

She said, “For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”

"This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely--and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues," Bondi said in a post on X, sharing unclassified visuals of the seizure," her statement added.