Overview
- President Trump said there was a “major explosion” at a shore-side docking area used to load boats with drugs and declined to specify whether the military or the CIA carried out the strike.
- CNN and the New York Times, citing people familiar with the operation, reported the CIA conducted a Dec. 24 drone strike on a port facility linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, with no one present at the site.
- The White House and Pentagon have not provided details or public confirmation, and Venezuelan authorities have not acknowledged an attack.
- Separately on Monday, U.S. Southern Command announced another strike on an alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific that killed two, bringing the total to about 30 boat strikes and at least 107 deaths since September.
- The operation continues alongside a large U.S. regional deployment and a blockade targeting sanctioned oil tankers, as legal and diplomatic questions grow over the campaign’s scope and aims.