Trump to visit Southern Command to focus on counternarcotics operation

July 7 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump will visit South Florida on Friday to review the advance of a counternarcotics operation in the Caribbean, White House officials said on Tuesday.

The White House said the trip will be used to highlight "his administration's relentless, whole-of-government approach to curb the trafficking of drugs into our country."

In April, the administration announced it would be stepping up counternarcotics operations in the Western hemisphere.

The operation, which has included an Air Force deployment to Curacao and an Army deployment to Colombia, as well as operations in the Caribbean and Venezuela, has resulted in seizures totaling more than $1 billion, according to the Miami Herald.

On Friday, Trump will visit Doral, which is home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, suggesting the president will also discuss his Latin American policy, officials said. The counternarcotics operation has also been touted as a way to undercut Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela.

Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials were indicted on drug trafficking charges in March, and U.S. officials believe some members of Maduro's regime are part of a cartel that has been using routes through the Caribbean and Central America to ship drugs out of Venezuela.