CIA drone strike reportedly hit port facility on Venezuelan coast; Dock used by gang Tren de Aragua for drug operations

A CIA drone strike is reported to have targeted a port facility on Venezuela’s coast. According to CNN, sources familiar with the matter said the operation took place earlier this month, representing the first known US attack on a target within the country. According to CNN sources, the drone strike hit a remote dock on Venezuela’s coast that the US government believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and transport them onto boats for shipment. No one was at the facility during the strike, and there were no reported casualties.

Two sources claimed US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support for the strike, though Col. Allie Weiskopf, spokesperson for US Special Operations Command, denied any involvement, including intel support, reported CNN. President Donald Trump acknowledged the attack in an interview on December 26, describing it as targeting 'a big facility where ships come from' and the 'dock area where they load the boats up with drugs', but offered few specifics and did not confirm whether the CIA or military conducted it.

The strike could heighten tensions between the US and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, amid Washington’s aggressive push to pressure him to step down. According to CNN, the US has previously destroyed more than 30 suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific as part of its counter-narcotics campaign, along with a blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.


One source, as quoted by CNN, said the strike destroyed the facility and its boats, though its impact was largely symbolic, as it is only one of several drug-loading ports in Venezuela. Earlier this year, Trump expanded CIA authorities for operations in Latin America, including inside Venezuela, though the military’s legal authority remains limited to maritime strikes, reported CNN.