Venezuelan vessel destroyed during U.S. military strike. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
The strikes come as the Trump administration takes on drug cartels and the influx of illicit drugs into the U.S., and after the administration in February designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and others as foreign terrorist organizations.
Despite the strikes, Townsend said that cartels are incredibly agile. But the additional pressure stemming from the Trump administration’s heightened crackdown on drug flow provides an opportunity for the U.S. to deter them as the cartels navigate new protocols.
"The more we force them to adapt, it's going to provide the potential for more mistakes, more openings that we can exploit … it degrades their infrastructure, it frustrates them," Townsend said.
The strikes also could intensify tension between cartels, who will now be competing for resources, according to Townsend. Specifically, cartels likely will struggle with recruitment as they seek pilots and captains, and will now be competing more directly with other groups who may offer greater pay or safer routes, he said.
Additionally, brokers and buyers could turn to a rival group if they can provide a more steady supply, Townsend said.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., pictured here, along with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a war powers resolution in September that would block U.S. forces from engaging in "hostilities" against certain non-state organizations. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The strikes have attracted scrutiny from members of Congress, who have called into question the legality of the strikes. For example, senators Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a war powers resolution in September that would block U.S. forces from engaging in "hostilities" against certain non-state organizations.
"There has been no authorization to use force by Congress in this way," Schiff told reporters Wednesday. "I feel it is plainly unconstitutional. The fact that the administration claims to have a list and has put organizations on a list does not somehow empower the administration to usurp Congress's power of declaring war or refusing to declare war or refusing to authorize the use of force."
The measure failed in the Senate on Wednesday by a 48-51 margin.
Even so, Trump has indicated that the strikes will continue, and told military leaders in September that the "military is now the knife's edge in combating this sinister enemy."
"We have to put the traffickers and cartels on notice…if you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence, because that's the only language they really understand," Trump told military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, Sept. 30. "That's why you don't see any more boats in the ocean. You don't see any boats around Venezuela. There's nothing."
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/how-trumps-strikes-against-alleged-narco-terrorists-reshaping-cartel-battlefield-one-way-ticket