Overview
- President Donald Trump described a “major explosion” at a shore-side docking area he said was used to load drug boats, declining to specify whether the U.S. military or the CIA conducted the operation.
- The White House, Pentagon and CIA offered no public confirmation or details, and Venezuelan authorities have issued no acknowledgment of an attack.
- Reporting that cites unnamed sources in U.S. media says the strike may have been a CIA drone hit on a port facility linked by officials to the Tren de Aragua gang, with no casualties reported.
- If verified, the action would mark the campaign’s first strike on land after months of U.S. attacks on suspected smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
- Separately, U.S. Southern Command announced the 30th boat strike since September, raising the reported death toll to at least 107, as legal experts and some lawmakers intensify scrutiny of the campaign’s legality.