'We are gonna start now hitting land': Donald Trump says US will launch strikes against drug cartels | Watch

US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Jan 8) announced that the United States will now be conducting land strikes against drug cartels. Speaking during an interview with Fox News, the POTUS confirmed, "We are gonna start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels". However, he did not share details on where and when land strikes may begin. This was Trump's first interview since America carried out a shock stealth operation which resulted in the capture of Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

What did Trump say?

Appearing for an interview, Trump claimed that the US has already knocked out “97 per cent of drugs coming in by water” and said that “we are now gonna start hitting land, with regardto cartels”. He then claimed that the “cartels are running Mexico”. Trump said it was “very sad to watch and see what's happened to that country, but the cartels are running it”. He also alleged that the cartels were killing “250,000-300,000 people” in America every year.

Watch what he said here:

Trump slammed his predecessor Joe Biden's administration for drug-related deaths in the US, saying, “the border was a total mess for years,” before proceeding to tout his actions to fix the mess. “I did it the first time quickly; this time, I did it even better because this was a bigger mess, this was a border like no other in the history of the world.”

“There's never been a border like this, where anyone can just walk into a country,” said Trump.

US strikes on alleged drug traffickers

Previously, on Dec 29, the US President had confirmed that Washington carried out the first land strikes on Venezuela. The US president said that the US attacked the "dock area" linked to alleged drug boats. Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump said the strike caused a "major explosion" at a site he claimed "they load the boats up with drugs".

Since September, US forces have repeatedly targeted what Washington alleges are drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. According to US officials, more than 20 vessels have been hit, with at least 100 people killed.