WASHINGTON (Realist English). The Central Intelligence Agency was behind a drone strike last week on a docking facility believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with the operation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter remains classified.
The strike marks the first known direct US operation on Venezuelan territory since Washington began stepped-up actions in the Caribbean earlier this year, representing a significant escalation in the administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan authorities have not publicly acknowledged the incident.
US President Donald Trump alluded to the operation last week in a radio interview in New York, saying the United States had destroyed a “big facility where ships come from.” Speaking to reporters on Monday while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump added that the target was a “dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” but declined to say whether the strike was conducted by the military or the CIA.
Neither the CIA nor the White House provided further comment. A spokesperson for US Special Operations Command said in a statement that US special operations forces “did not support this operation, including intelligence support.”
The operation follows months of heightened US activity in the Caribbean, including a large-scale deployment of personnel starting in August and at least 30 US strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Trump has also ordered a quasi-blockade aimed at intercepting sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
CNN first reported the CIA’s role in the strike. Trump has previously acknowledged authorizing covert CIA actions inside Venezuela — an unusual public admission — arguing that intelligence-led operations face less scrutiny than overt military strikes. Under US law, such covert actions must be reported to senior members of Congress.
Trump has repeatedly accused the Maduro government of fueling drug trafficking and said Venezuela had released criminals who later entered the United States. Maduro and several senior figures in his government have been under US federal indictment since 2020 on narcoterrorism-related charges, which Caracas denies. This year, the US Justice Department increased to $50 million the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
The Venezuelan president did not mention the reported CIA strike during a public speech on Tuesday, as tensions between Caracas and Washington continue to rise.
