Fearing an uptick of U.S. drug abuse amid the global coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has marshaled the Defense Department for "enhanced counternarcotics operations" at the southwestern border Wednesday.
Trump has spoken about increased drug abuse issues stemming from times of crisis, particularly unemployment and depression, and now the U.S. Navy and Air Force are going to be conducting an enhanced surveillance operation to combat narcotic shipments, which Attorney General Bill Barr called "Narcoterrorism."
"The cartels have to be defeated," Barr told the daily coronavirus task force briefing.
Said Gen. Mark Miley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "As we know, 70,000 Americans die on an average annual basis to drugs. That is unacceptable. We are at war with COVID-19. We are at war with terrorists. And we are at war with the drug cartels as well. This is the United States military. You will not penetrate this country. You will not get past jump street. You're not going to come in here and kill additional Americans. And we will marshal whatever assets are required to prevent your entry into this country to kill Americans."
The Trump administration wants to put a focus on stopping more drugs into the U.S. and protecting Americans when terrorists and drug cartels might be inclined to increase drug flows during the pandemic.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.