On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “The Brief,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) stated that he supports strikes on drug boats around Venezuela even though “it’s not going after the fentanyl.” But he does support striking cocaine boats.
Bacon said, “I would vote yes on the boats. I’ve lost family members, I think most of us have, from drugs. And I got the top-secret briefings that convinced me they have good intelligence, they know what they’re doing, this is not random hits on these boats. These are cartel people that are trying to get drugs into the United States. And the warning’s out there, they know now. They’re going on the ocean at their own risk if you’ve got cocaine on your boat.”
Host Jim Sciutto then asked, “But are they the right targets for this? Because, as you know, the majority of those drugs are not coming to the U.S. And it’s certainly not the main source of fentanyl in this country, which is responsible for that death toll you mentioned.”
Bacon responded, “Yeah, it’s China to Mexico. I don’t have a problem with going after the cocaine boats, but you’re right, it’s not going after the fentanyl. And I think Mexico, though, is working with us on this, which is good. I’ve met with the Mexican president this summer, and she was eager to [say], hey, I want to cooperate. But they want to protect their sovereignty, but they do want to work with us on intelligence and whatever other [aid] we can give them to crack down on the drug shipments through Mexico. But yet, we also know that China’s sending a lot of that stuff there, and they’re putting fentanyl together and shipping it north. We’ve got to work on that as well. So, I think your question’s a good one. Does it answer the problem? Probably not fully, what we’re doing. But I do think there’s — part of this is to interdict the drugs coming out of Colombia and Venezuela. I think — though he hasn’t told us this — I believe the rest of this is trying to pressure Maduro out.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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