Trump says US hit ‘big facility’ linked to alleged Venezuelan drug boats

Donald Trump said the US launched an attack on a “dock area” allegedly linked to Venezuelan drug boats.

The US president said there was a “big explosion” while they were “loading drugs onto the boats”, but did not give further details. The Venezuelan government has not yet responded.

According to CNN and the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter, the explosion was caused by a drone attack carried out by the CIA. If confirmed, this would be the first known US operation in Venezuela.

Since September, the US has launched attacks on boats said to be smuggling drugs; It targeted more than 20 ships in the Pacific and Caribbean, killing at least 100 people.

The latest attack took place on Monday, with US Southern Command saying in a social media post that two “narco-terrorists” were killed in a “lethal kinetic attack” in the eastern Pacific.

Trump had previously threatened a ground attack on Venezuela as part of his pressure campaign on President Nicolás Maduro and allowed the CIA to take covert action in the country.

Reporters asked Trump on Monday if the CIA carried out the attack, and he said, “I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who it is, but I don’t want to say who it is.”

“We hit all the boats and now we hit the area… this is the practice area. That’s where they practiced and that’s no longer there,” he said of the strike.

Trump’s comments mark the second time he has mentioned the explosion. In a radio interview last week, Trump described a US operation against a “major facility” but provided limited details.

The Pentagon referred BBC News’ questions to the White House. There is no immediate comment from the White House.

When the United States has previously launched attacks on drug boats, including Monday’s attack, the Pentagon posted images and videos on social media to confirm the attacks. No footage of the pier incident has been shared so far.

The Trump administration has described attacks on ships in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, mostly from Venezuela, as attacks on terrorists trying to bring deadly and illegal drugs into the United States by boat.

The United States has deployed 15,000 troops and a number of aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers and amphibious assault ships to the Caribbean.

The stated goal of the largest deployment to the region since the United States invaded Panama in 1989 is to stop the flow of fentanyl and cocaine into the United States.

Among the ships is the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier. US helicopters reportedly took off from here before US forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on December 10.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil revenues to finance drug-related crimes. Venezuela condemned the seizures as “piracy”.

Maduro has denied US allegations that he is the cartel leader and accused the US of using its “war on drugs” as an excuse to oust him and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Trump was asked last week whether the goal of the seizures was to remove Maduro from power. Trump responded: “Well, I guess that would be it… It’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do that. But we’ll find out, though.”