Trump Claims US Hit ‘Big Facility’ Tied to Venezuelan Drug Boats
Trump hints at a covert US strike in Venezuela, escalating the drug trafficking war as CIA drone claims emerge and pressure mounts on Maduro.
Donald Trump has said the US attacked a "dock area" allegedly linked to Venezuelan drug boats.
The US president said there was a "big explosion" where "they load the drugs onto the boats"—but he did not provide further details or the location of the dock. The Venezuelan government has not yet responded.
According to the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter, the explosion was caused by a drone strike carried out by the CIA. If confirmed, this would be the first known US operation inside Venezuela.
Trump has previously threatened ground attacks in Venezuela, as well as authorizing covert CIA operations as part of a campaign to pressure President Nicolás Maduro.
There has been no official comment from Venezuela on Trump's remarks, and—although there has been speculation on social media—there are no reports of any attack in Venezuelan state media.
When asked by reporters on Monday whether the CIA carried out the attack, Trump said: "I don't want to say. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was."
This is the second time Trump has mentioned the explosion. In a radio interview last week, he referred to a US operation against a "major facility," but provided limited details.
A US attack on the ground would be a significant escalation in the pressure the Trump administration has been putting on Maduro, whom the US has accused of running a "narco-terrorist" organization—an accusation the Venezuelan president has denied.
Since September, the US has carried out 30 attacks on vessels it says were involved in drug trafficking, targeting ships in the Pacific and Caribbean seas and killing more than 100 people. The most recent attack occurred on Monday, with the U.S. Southern Command stating in a social media post that two "narco-terrorists" were killed in a "lethal kinetic strike" in the Eastern Pacific.
However, the U.S. has not provided any evidence to support its claim that the vessels it attacked were carrying drugs.
Aside from two survivors – one Colombian and one Ecuadorian national – the identities of anyone else on board the vessels have not been publicly released.
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Speaking on Monday, Trump offered few details about the alleged attack on the ground, but appeared to indicate that a new phase in the pressure campaign against Venezuela had begun. "We hit all the boats, and now we've hit that area... That's the enforcement area. That's where they enforce it, and now that place is gone," he said, without clarifying which area he was referring to.
When the U.S. has previously attacked alleged drug-carrying vessels – including the attack on Monday – the Pentagon has published photos and videos on social media to confirm the strikes. So far, no images of the dock incident have been shared.
The Trump administration has characterized the attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific as strikes against terrorists attempting to bring fentanyl and cocaine into the United States.
However, fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico and almost entirely enters the U.S. overland through its southern border.
Experts on drug trafficking have also noted that Venezuela is a minor player in global drug trafficking.
It primarily serves as a transit country through which drugs manufactured elsewhere are smuggled. In addition to attacking suspected drug-carrying vessels, Washington has also deployed a large military force to the Caribbean and ordered a naval blockade of banned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil revenues to fund drug-related crimes and has designated the Maduro government a "foreign terrorist organization" .
In recent weeks, the US military has seized two oil tankers and pursued a third.
The Maduro government, which has long accused the US of trying to steal the South American country's oil wealth—Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven reserves—called the seizures "maritime piracy."
Nicolás Maduro has also accused the US of using its "war on drugs" as a pretext to try to remove him from power.
When asked last week whether the seizures were intended to oust Maduro, President Trump replied: "Well, I think it probably will... It depends on what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do that.
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