Washington DC [US], January 4 (ANI): US Vice-President JD Vance on Sunday defended Washington's military action related to Venezuela, during which they captured the country's president and deposed dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, arguing that the South American nation has played a significant role in drug trafficking and has long used expropriated oil assets to fund what he described as "narcoterrorist activities".

Responding to criticism that Venezuela has little connection to the global drug trade, Vance, in a post on X, said that such claims were misleading, stressing that cocaine trafficking remains central to the finances of Latin American drug cartels.

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"You see a lot of claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. First off, fentanyl isn't the only drug in the world, and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela, or at least there was," his post read.

"Second, cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it), you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!," it added.

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Addressing concerns over fentanyl flows from Mexico, the Vice-President said the issue remained a key focus of US policy.

"A lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one," he said.

Vance also responded to criticism over oil-related motives for the US action against Venezuela, recalling that Venezuela had expropriated American oil assets nearly two decades ago.

"About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities," he said.

While acknowledging public anxiety over the use of military force, Vance defended a firm response. "Are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don't act like that," he said, adding that under President Donald Trump's leadership, "the United States is a great power again."

The Vice-President's remarks come after Washington on Saturday carried out a "large-scale strike against Venezuela", and the deposed dictator, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and taken out of the country.

Maduro and Flores were captured in Caracas and flown out of the country in a joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement.

Trump stated that Maduro and his wife have been indicted on charges of alleged "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies" in the Southern District of New York and will face trial.

Meanwhile, Trump, addressing a press conference in Florida following the operation, said that the military action against Venezuela was "one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history."

He further stated that the US would run the country "until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition," noting that his administration wants "peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela."

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We want peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela," Trump said.

He also noted that the US action was aimed at bringing "outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice", and that US companies will fix the broken oil infrastructure in the South American nation. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)