Earlier this month, the CIA launched a drone strike on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, marking the first known US attack on a target inside the country, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, UNN writes.
Details
The drone strike, details of which have not been previously reported, targeted a remote dock on the Venezuelan coast that the US government believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and transfer them to boats for onward shipment, sources said. No one was at the facility at the time of the strike, so there were no casualties, according to sources.
Two sources said that US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support for the operation, emphasizing their continued involvement in the region. But Colonel Ellie Weiskopf, a spokeswoman for the US Special Operations Command, denied this, stating: "Special Operations did not support this operation, including intelligence support."
Trump announced a strike on a "large target" in Venezuela - Bloomberg29.12.25, 17:59
US President Donald Trump appeared to acknowledge the strike for the first time in an interview last week that initially drew little attention, although he provided few details, including when reporters directly asked about it on Monday.
The strike could significantly escalate tensions between the US and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the US is pressuring to resign through an aggressive military campaign, the publication writes.
The US has launched strikes, destroying more than 30 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as part of what it called an anti-drug campaign, and Trump has ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers arriving in and departing from Venezuela. Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch strikes inside Venezuela, but prior to the CIA strike earlier this month, the only known US strikes on Venezuelan targets were strikes on boats suspected of involvement in drug trafficking in international waters, the publication indicates.
In a December 26 interview, Trump acknowledged that the US had destroyed some "large facility where ships arrive" when he spoke about his administration's campaign against Venezuela. When asked about it again on Monday, he said the US had attacked "in the dock area where they load boats with drugs." But he declined to comment when asked whether the attack was carried out by the military or the CIA.
"So we hit all the boats, and now we hit that area," Trump said on Monday. "That's the implementation zone, that's where they implement, and it's gone now."
One source said the strike was successful, destroying the facility and boats, but called it largely symbolic, as it is just one of many port facilities used by drug traffickers leaving Venezuela. It also appeared to attract almost no attention, even domestically, in real time.
As CNN previously reported, Trump earlier this year expanded the CIA's authority to conduct operations in Latin America, including Venezuela. But even then, the US military had legal authority to conduct strikes only on suspected drug traffickers at sea, not on land, CNN reports.
Venezuela converts tankers into floating storage due to US naval blockade23.12.25, 22:50