The attack last week, on a dock purportedly used for shipping narcotics, did not kill anyone, people briefed on the operation said. But it was the first known US operation inside Venezuela.
The attack last week, on a dock purportedly used for shipping narcotics, did not kill anyone, people briefed on the operation said. But it was the first known US operation inside Venezuela.
The CIA conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last week, according to people briefed on the operation, a development that suggests an aggressive new phase of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the Maduro government has begun.
The strike was on a dock where U.S. officials believe Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, was storing narcotics and potentially preparing to move the drugs onto boats, the people said.
No one was on the dock at the time, and no one was killed, they said. But the strike is the first known U.S. operation inside Venezuela.
The details of the strike, which were reported earlier by CNN, fleshed out an attack that President Donald Trump had already discussed openly, despite the secrecy that typically surrounds CIA operations.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump declined to say how the attack had been carried out or by whom but confirmed the United States was responsible.
