Most Drugs Targeted By The Trump Admin In The Caribbean Actually Don't Go To The U.S.: Report

American and international officials are rejecting the Trump administration's claim that vessels struck by the U.S. army over the past weeks are not actually carrying drugs bound for the U.S., according to a new report.

Concretely, officials interviewed by the Washington Post told the outlet that the Caribbean corridor targeted by the armed forces is not used to move fentanyl, like administration officials have said. Instead is usually used to transport marijuana and cocaine that is then taken to West Africa and Europe.

As a result, officials said, the strikes are not likely to reduce overdose deaths in the U.S. and impact drug-trafficking operations in the country. One claimed that after seeing internal documents on the strike he "immediately thought 'this isn't about terrorist, tris is about Venezuela and regime change.'"

The White House has not provided evidence to support its claim that strikes are hitting drug-traffickers carrying substances that will ultimately end in the U.S. Moreover, several reports have claimed that the Trump administration ultimately seeks to oust authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.

In this context, the Financial Times detailed that top regime officials are concerned about their personal safety. Citing "well-connected business people" inside the country, the outlet added that regime figures have changed their mobile phones, are sleeping in different cities every night and have changed their Cuban bodyguards for a new batch from Havana.

The pressure campaign in the Caribbean and strikes against alleged drug vessels seek to convey the message than staying will be more costly than leaving, the outlet added.

Maduro has been seeking to appease Trump, most recently pleading for peace with the U.S. "We don't want war in the Caribbean and South America," Maduro said during a televised message. He then changed to English, saying: "Not war, yes peace. With the people of the United States. Please, please, please. Listen to me. From the people of the Bolivarian Republic."

The Trump administration, however, is ramping up pressure: On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that a Special Operations aviation unit has flown less than a 100 miles from Venezuela, yet another message to Caracas.

Moreover, the Miami Herald reported on Thursday that the Trump administration rejected an offer by the Venezuelan regime to oust Maduro and undergo a transition. And on Friday U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz claimed that the Trump administration's pressure campaign is "consistent with the law of armed conflict and Article 51 of the UN Charter."