The CIA carried out a drone strike last week at a Venezuelan docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels, according to two people familiar with the classified operation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The attack, which the Venezuelan government did not publicly acknowledge, was described by AP as the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.
AP reported that the operation represents a significant escalation in the administration’s pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro’s government. U.S. officials and Venezuelan officials have not confirmed the strike, but AP said the CIA’s involvement was described to the news organization by people with knowledge of the operation.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, drew attention to the strike in public comments even as officials declined to clarify the role of specific agencies. In an interview Friday with John Catsimatidis on WABC radio in New York, Trump said the U.S. had “knocked out some type of ‘big facility where ships come from.’”
On Monday, while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump told reporters that the operation targeted a “dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.” When asked whether the attack was carried out by the military or the CIA, he declined to comment, according to AP.
The CIA and White House officials declined to offer additional comment on the AP report. Col. Allie Weiskopf, a spokesperson for Special Operations Command—which oversees U.S. operations in the Caribbean—said in a statement that “Special Operations did not support this operation to include intel support.”
AP said the CIA strike escalates steps that began with a buildup of U.S. personnel in the Caribbean Sea starting in August, followed by at least 30 U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. More recently, Trump has ordered a quasi-blockade targeting sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela, AP reported.
The report also described how Trump has tied covert action in Venezuela to drug trafficking and to efforts against Maduro’s government. In October, after confirming to reporters that he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert action inside Venezuela, Trump said, “I authorized for two reasons, really. No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America,” and “And the other thing, the drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.”
AP reported that while the administration is required to notify senior congressional officials about covert CIA actions, Trump’s decision to entrust what appears to be the first land strike of the Venezuelan campaign to the intelligence agency could affect how lawmakers scrutinize the operation compared with a military strike. Trump has also repeatedly said Maduro’s days in power are numbered.
Maduro has denied U.S. accusations against him, including charges in the United States. AP said members of Maduro’s inner circle and Maduro himself have been under federal indictment since 2020 for narcoterrorism and other charges, and that the Justice Department this year doubled to a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest. Maduro did not mention the CIA operation during an hourlong speech Tuesday at an international leadership school for women, AP said.