By Harshit
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 30 —
The United States has carried out its first known strike on a target inside Venezuela, with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) launching a drone attack earlier this month on a remote port facility allegedly used by the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, according to multiple sources familiar with the operation.
The strike, first reported by CNN, targeted a dock along Venezuela’s coastline that US officials believe was being used to store narcotics and load them onto boats for international trafficking routes. No casualties were reported, as the facility was unoccupied at the time of the attack, sources said.
The CIA declined to comment publicly on the operation, while the White House and Venezuela’s government have not issued formal responses.
Targeting Tren de Aragua’s Drug Routes
According to sources, the dock served as a logistical hub for Tren de Aragua, a powerful transnational gang that US officials increasingly classify as a “narcoterrorist” organization due to its involvement in large-scale drug trafficking, extortion, and human smuggling.
The strike destroyed the port facility and several boats used by traffickers, one source said, though officials acknowledged the operation was largely symbolic.
“It’s one node in a much larger trafficking network,” a source familiar with the assessment said. “It disrupts operations, but it doesn’t dismantle the system.”
Two sources initially indicated that US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support. However, that claim was denied by US Special Operations Command spokesperson Col. Allie Weiskopf, who said: “Special Operations did not support this operation to include intel support.”
Trump Signals Escalation Against Maduro
President Donald Trump appeared to acknowledge the strike during an interview on December 26, though his remarks initially drew little attention.
“We knocked out a big facility where ships come from,” Trump said at the time, later clarifying that the attack hit “the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.”
Asked directly whether the strike was carried out by the military or the CIA, Trump declined to specify.
“So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area,” he said. “It’s the implementation area — and that is no longer around.”
The strike represents a sharp escalation in Washington’s campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the Trump administration has aggressively pressured to step down.
First Known US Strike Inside Venezuela
Until now, US actions against Venezuelan drug trafficking had been limited to operations in international waters. Over recent months, US forces have destroyed more than 30 suspected trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific as part of what the administration calls a counter-narcotics campaign.
Trump has also ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, tightening economic pressure on Caracas.
While Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes inside Venezuela, the CIA operation earlier this month marks the first confirmed US attack on Venezuelan territory.
Earlier this year, Trump expanded the CIA’s operational authorities in Latin America, including Venezuela — a move that allowed covert action inside the country even as the US military lacked legal authority to conduct land-based strikes there.
Counter-Narcotics or Political Pressure?
The Trump administration has offered multiple justifications for its Venezuela campaign. Publicly, officials emphasize narcotics interdiction. Privately, senior figures have acknowledged broader political objectives.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles said the strikes on trafficking boats were intended to force Maduro to “cry uncle.”
So far, Maduro has shown no indication he plans to relinquish power.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has compared drug trafficking organizations to terrorist groups targeted during the global war on terror.
“These narcoterrorists are the al Qaeda of our hemisphere,” Hegseth said earlier this month. “And we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al Qaeda.”
Regional Risks and Strategic Calculations
Analysts warn that striking inside Venezuela carries significant risks, including retaliation, diplomatic fallout, and regional instability. While the CIA operation reportedly attracted little attention inside Venezuela, it sets a precedent that could reshape US–Latin America relations.
The Venezuelan government has not yet acknowledged the strike publicly. However, experts say future operations could provoke stronger responses from Caracas or its allies.
For now, US officials appear committed to continuing the campaign, using intelligence-driven strikes and maritime interdictions to disrupt drug trafficking — even as questions grow over how far Washington is willing to go inside Venezuelan territory.