When President Donald Trump came into office earlier this year, he did not waste much time to change the US government’s approach to the war on drugs. His Republican administration not only stepped up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members but in February he also designated cartels such as Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, MS-13 in El Salvador and six groups based in Mexico as foreign terrorist organisations.
The terror designation is normally reserved for groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, which use violence for political ends – not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels. But the Trump administration argues that the international connections and operations of the groups, including drug-trafficking, migrant-smuggling and violent pushes to extend their territory, warrant the designation.
What this allows Trump to do is to use the U.S. government’s military and intelligence resources to attempt to stop the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs from flowing onto the streets of US cities. Mexicans were the first to take note. Under severe pressure from Trump and his officials to do more against the cartels within her country’s borders, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum feared a violation of Mexican sovereignty by the deployment of US military drones and special forces. So far she has refused any US military intervention.
Now, the Trump administration’s attention appears to have shifted to Venezuela. Earlier this month the Americans doubled the reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to US $50 million, accusing him of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers. Then, Reuters news agency reported earlier this week that the US military was deploying three Aegis-class destroyers to international waters in the vicinity of Venezuela. A couple of days later it was also reported that the US Navy was also deploying an amphibious squadron, carrying 4,500 service members, including 2,200 marines.
It is time for the leaders and populations of the Dutch Caribbean islands to take note. The extra hardware and manpower will certainly help with the interdiction of drug planes and boats headed for the US and Caribbean islands. Our coastguard and Dutch military already have an excellent relationship with the US Coastguard in that respect.
And with our own police now warning against the appearance of crystal meth on the streets of Sint Maarten, we can only hope the use of military force will put a serious dent in the regional drug trade, however short.
