Trump indicators govt order to categorise fentanyl as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’

Donald Trump said Monday he was classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, as he continues his war against drug cartels in Latin America.

The president, citing the number of deaths caused by fentanyl per year, signed a decree that placed the opioid in the same category as nuclear and chemical weapons. 

‘No bomb does what this is doing – 200-300,000 people die every year, that we know of,’ Trump said at the signing.

The executive order said ‘illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,’ and that its manufacture and distribution ‘threatens our national security and fuels lawlessness in our hemisphere and at our borders.’

But contrary to Trump’s claim on fentanyl fatalities, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an estimated total of about 80,000 overdose deaths in the country in 2024, with some 48,000 of those due to synthetic opioids.

The fentanyl classification ties in with the Trump administration’s war against ‘narco-terrorists,’ which has included a military campaign targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats with strikes that have left nearly 90 people dead since early September.

But while Trump claims that each boat destroyed – there have been more than 20 – saves 25,000 American lives, the vessels are thought to be transporting cocaine rather than far-deadlier fentanyl, which is primarily smuggled into the United States from Mexico rather than by boat from Colombia or Venezuela.

Trump has accompanied the strikes with a massive military buildup in the Caribbean that includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier and a slew of other warships, while a string of US military aircraft have flown along Venezuela’s coast in recent weeks.

While Trump and his administration say the target of the military buildup is drug-trafficking, Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro accuses Washington of using narcotics smuggling as a pretext for regime change in Caracas.

The United States has sought to link the two issues, accusing Maduro of leading the alleged ‘Cartel of the Suns,’ which it declared a ‘narco-terrorist’ organization last month, and offering a $50 million reward for information leading to his capture. 

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

Footage released by the Trump administration showed American forces swooping on the tanker in helicopters and rappelling down ropes.

Troops with guns drawn darted up stairs to the bridge to take control of the vessel off the coast of Venezuela.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a statement on X: ‘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.

‘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.’

The release of the video comes after it was reported that the tanker had been seized, sparking fears of a potential blockade and spiking oil prices. No name was given for the ‘stateless’ vessel, nor was it confirmed precisely where off the coast of Venezuela the raid unfolded.

Trump called it ‘the largest one ever seized’ and warned that ‘other things are happening.’

Venezuela’s foreign minister condemned the United States for allegedly ‘illegally and hostilely’ detaining a fishing vessel in its waters using the USS, a US Navy destroyer.

The boat, which the ministry said was crewed by nine tuna fishermen, was sailing 48 nautical miles northeast of La Blanquilla Island – Venezuelan territory.

Venezuela stated that the area where the vessel was seized falls within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

This zone, established by international law, extends 200 nautical miles from a country’s coastline, granting that country exclusive rights to exploit marine resources within it. 

While other nations may navigate or carry out naval operations within an EEZ, they cannot exploit its resources or disrupt lawful civilian activities without the consent of the coastal state. 

Foreign Minister Yván Gil stated that the warship ‘deployed 18 armed agents who boarded and occupied the small, harmless boat for eight hours,’ as reported by TeleSUR English.

The move has further heightened tensions between the two countries, which have escalated in recent weeks following Washington’s deployment of spy planes, a warship, and even a submarine to the southern Caribbean Sea. 

Venezuela’s leader Maduro, who the US does not recognize as the legitimate president of the country after an election last year, threatened to ‘declare a republic in arms’ if attacked by American forces.

He declared that his country was at ‘maximum preparedness’ during a news conference, in response to the increased US maritime presence near Venezuelan waters. 

The leftist leader characterized the US operation as ‘an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.’

He then warned that US military action against Venezuela would ‘stain’ Trump’s ‘hands with blood.’

‘President Donald Trump, the pursuit of regime change is exhausted; it has failed as a policy worldwide,’ Maduro said. ‘You cannot pretend to impose a situation in Venezuela.’ 

But Trump has only continued to ramp up pressure on Maduro, whom he accuses of leading a cocaine trafficking cartel. 

Last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50million reward for information leading to the capture and arrest of Maduro, saying he uses ‘foreign terrorist organizations’ to ‘bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.’ 

But tensions only intensified last week when US forces blew up an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, killing 11 people. 

Trump announced the operation from the Oval Office, later stating in a Truth Social post that those killed were members of the Tren de Aragua narcoterrorist group – although the administration has yet to present any evidence supporting this claim. 

‘You’ll see that we just, over the last few minutes literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,’ Trump told reporters after the strike.

‘We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time, and we just – these came out of Venezuela. And coming out very heavily from Venezuela, a lot of things are coming out of Venezuela, so we took it out,’ he added. 

Meanwhile, Venezuela accused the US of committing ‘extrajudicial killings,’ with Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello calling Washington’s account ‘a tremendous lie,’ as reported by WTOP News.

Cabello further suggested that, according to Venezuelan government investigations, the incident could be linked to the disappearance of several individuals in a coastal region of the country who had no ties to drug trafficking. 

‘They openly confessed to killing 11 people,’ Cabello said on state television, according to Aljazeera. 

‘Our investigations show the victims were not drug traffickers,’ he added. ‘A murder has been committed against a group of citizens using lethal force.’

Yet the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has so far seized 30 tons of cocaine that were subsequently linked to Maduro and his associates, according to AG Bondi.

Nearly seven tons of that total was linked to Maduro himself, she added, explaining that this represents a primary source of income for gangs operating in Venezuela and Mexico.

Maduro has since announced the deployment of troops, police, and civilian militias across 284 ‘battlefront’ locations, reinforcing earlier troop increases along the Colombian border. 

The US government has given no indication of plans to conduct a ground incursion, despite deploying more than 4,000 troops to the region.

Nevertheless, the Venezuelan government has called on its citizens to enlist in militias – armed volunteer groups – to support security forces in the event of a potential bombardment.