President Donald Trump has stated that the US has carried out a strike on a dock area associated with alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump mentioned a major explosion last week at a location where drugs are purportedly loaded onto boats. The specifics of the strike's location, and whether the US military or CIA was involved, were not disclosed.
The Venezuelan government has not yet reacted, and it remains unclear whether the strike was conducted in Venezuelan territory.
Since September, the US has targeted drug-smuggling boats, reportedly attacking over 20 vessels, many linked to Venezuela, resulting in at least 100 fatalities.
The latest strike was reported on Monday, with US Southern Command announcing that two narco-terrorists were killed in an operation in the eastern Pacific.
Trump has previously hinted at potential land strikes against Venezuela and has authorized covert CIA operations as part of a pressure campaign on President Nicolás Maduro.
When questioned about CIA involvement in the recent attack, Trump refrained from providing details, simply stating he was aware of the perpetrators but did not wish to disclose them.
We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area... it's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around, Trump said.
This marks the second mention of the explosion by Trump, having referred to a US operation targeting a big facility last week, though specifics were limited.
The Pentagon has directed media inquiries to the White House, which has yet to respond. Historically, the Pentagon has released images following strikes on drug boats, but no visuals from the dock incident have been shared yet.
The Trump administration classifies these strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific as efforts against terrorism aimed at stopping the flow of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl and cocaine, to the US.
In conjunction with these operations, the US has deployed 15,000 troops and various naval assets, including the USS Gerald Ford, to the Caribbean, marking one of the largest military deployments to the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
Venezuela has been accused of financing drug crime through oil revenues, leading to US actions described by the Maduro government as piracy.
Despite denying involvement with drug cartels, Maduro claims that the US is using its war on drugs as a pretext to topple his government and seize Venezuela's oil reserves.
When asked if the goal of the seizures might lead to Maduro's ousting, Trump replied, I think it probably would... that’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it'd be smart for him to do that. But again, we're gonna find out.
