Trump says US to start land strikes on drug traffickers in Caribbean "very soon"

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said at a White House cabinet meeting on Tuesday that his administration will start strikes on land targeting drug traffickers in the Caribbean "very soon."

"We're going to start doing those strikes on land. You know, the land is much easier. It's much easier, and we know the routes they take," Trump said at the meeting. "We're going to start that very soon."

In his Thanksgiving remarks to US troops on Thursday night, Trump thanked the Air Force's 7th Bomb Wing for their work to "deter Venezuelan drug traffickers," while announcing, "It's about 85 percent stopped by sea ... and we'll be starting to stop them by land."

"Also, the land is easier, but that's going to start very soon," Trump spoke from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Since Sept 2, the Pentagon has carried out at least 21 known strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people aboard.

In the past months, Washington has deployed around a dozen warships, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, a major aircraft carrier, and about 15,000 troops to the Caribbean Sea, which shares a significant amount of coastline with Venezuela. The region has not seen such a massive US military presence for at least three decades.

Critics, including multiple lawmakers at the US Capitol, have questioned whether counternarcotics is indeed the only US motive and the legality of US military strikes in the Caribbean for months.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denied having any ties to the drug trade and has accused the United States of "fabricating" a war aimed at regime change in his country.