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As President Donald Trump ramps up efforts to combat drug trafficking groups, one expert is applauding his administration’s tougher stance against a “clear and present danger” to the United States.
The decades-long battle against drug trafficking, once centered around cocaine and marijuana, has shifted to fentanyl. Unlike a singular, catastrophic terrorist attack, fentanyl fatalities can slowly add up to a mass casualty event, according to retired Coast Guard pilot John Mixson.
“With the introduction of fentanyl … it’s tiny little bombs, but it’s hundreds of them every day, if not thousands every day,” Mixson told Fox News Digital. “Overwhelming force — what you saw earlier this week — will deter the threat.”
TRUMP’S STRIKE ON CARTEL VESSEL OFF VENEZUELA SENDS WARNING TO MADURO: ‘NO SANCTUARY
Video footage showed the vessel shortly before it was destroyed off of Venezuela on Sept. 2, 2025. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
Last week, Trump shared video of a U.S. military strike that sank a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean, killing 11 suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) traffickers transporting illegal narcotics to the U.S.
Mixson praised Trump’s tougher approach, saying it likely will not stop drug trafficking entirely but could slow it down and save lives.
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“Bravo to this administration, because I think this will truly save lives of the American public,” Mixson said. “But as long as the demand continues, the supply will always be there.”
WATCH: Trump shares footage of military strike against suspected drug boat
The retired Coast Guard pilot described the ongoing battle against drug-trafficking groups as a “50-year game of whack-a-mole.” As federal agencies like the Coast Guard and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have adapted, so have traffickers — shifting from aircrafts to boats and ships, he said.
“Their preferred way of moving these days — in the past 20, 30 years actually — is via boats, and they’re commonly called ‘go-fast’ boats,” Mixson said.
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To smuggle narcotics into the U.S., drug-trafficking groups, which are often based out of South America, typically deploy around five high-speed “go-fast boats” which aim to reach Mexico before moving drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border, he said.
“They only need to get one of the five [boats] through to be extremely productive because of the value of the drugs,” Mixson said. “So they have a very complex network out there.”
The USS Gravely has worked with the Coast Guard to seize illegal drugs in the Caribbean Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Anderson W. Branch)
Crew members, which usually only consist of three or four people, are frequently there against their will, according to Mixson.
“The cartels will take their wives, their daughters, their sisters hostage … until they effectively become crew members and go and execute their mission,” he said. “And then the cartels hopefully release them.”
The U.S. Coast Guard recently offloaded more than 76,000 pounds of narcotics in Florida — the largest single drug bust in the agency’s history. The seizure came under Operation Pacific Viper, which is part of the administration’s effort to disrupt drug cartel activity in Latin America and intercept drugs and human smuggling before they reach American shores. Given that a lethal dose of cocaine can be as little as 1.2 grams, the amount offloaded was enough to potentially kill 23 million people, the Coast Guard said.
Drug traffickers are encroaching on U.S. shores like Miami Beach, Florida. (Credit: iStock)
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Meanwhile, just two milligrams of fentanyl, the size of just a few grains of sand, can result in an overdose, according to the website for Customs and Border Protection.
The Trump administration aims to save American lives by focusing on prevention, increasing access to evidence-based treatment and recovery services, and cutting off the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S., according to the White House website.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Papa contributed to this report.