Tom Homan: 'Great call' by President Trump to put drug cartels on notice during the coronavirus pandemic
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Enhancing vigilance against drug cartels during the coronavirus pandemic is a “great call” by President Trump, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan told “Fox & Friends” Thursday.
“He’s letting the world know we’re still going to be vigilant on that border,” Homan said.
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Homan's comments came after Trump announced on Wednesday a massive new "counternarcotics operation" in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea to "combat the flow of illicit drugs into the United States."
Included in the force package are Navy destroyers, other combat ships, Air Force surveillance planes and helicopters, and 10 Coast Guard cutter ships, Trump said, noting that the new forces would double U.S. interdiction capacity in the region – and help slow the spread of the coronavirus by reducing illicit travel.
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Homan said that due to Trump stepping up enforcement operations along the southern border, drug cartels will switch to a maritime smuggling method which they did "in the early ’80s."
He mentioned that they accessed Florida and Key West through maritime drug smuggling.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“They always smuggled through the Caribbean. They’re going to make their money so they got to find a way to do it," he explained.
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“The Coast Guard is going to get a lot busier,” Homan said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Homan added that the cartels will also try to use cargo travel to reach ports of entry and can no longer rely on large groups, including family units, bogging down the Border Patrol.
Fox News’ Gregg Re contributed to this report.