President Donald Trump opened Wednesday’s coronavirus White House task force briefing by issuing a warning about Mexican drug cartels.
“America continues to wage all out war to defeat the virus, this horrible, horrible virus, you see how terrible it is especially if you look at the numbers from yesterday,” Trump said after taking the podium. “In this time of need, I know that every American will do their patriotic duty and help us achieve a total victory.”
The president stood alongside Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Attorney General William Barr and several other officials, none of whom were situated six feet apart despite the federal government’s social distancing guidelines.
“As governments and nations focus on the coronavirus, there’s a growing threat that cartels, criminals and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own gain and we must not let that happen,” he continued. “Today the United States is launching enhanced counternarcotics operations in the Western hemisphere to protect the American people from the deadly scourge of illegal narcotics.”
Trump said the government will increase their efforts in “surveillance, disruption and seizures of drug shipments.”
Esper took the podium next and announced that the Department of Defense had commenced “enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea… to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S.”
“To conduct these enhanced operations, the president has directed the deployment of additional ships, aircraft and security forces to the U.S. southern command area of responsibilities,” he said.
Barr followed with a warning of the ongoing threat of Mexican cartels during the COVID-10 pandemic. “Their trafficking is largely responsible for the death of 70,000 Americans a year,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
