US Conducts 1st Known Strike Inside Venezuela, Targets Drug Trafficking Dock

US pressure on Venezuela escalated earlier this month when the CIA conducted a drone strike on a coastal port site. It was the first known American attack inside Venezuelan territory, as per CNN.

The strike reportedly hit a secluded dock that US authorities believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store narcotics and transfer them onto boats for onward shipment. The facility was unoccupied at the time of the strike, and no casualties were reported.

The operation's scope and support remain contested within the US government. Two sources said US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence assistance. That claim was rejected by US Special Operations Command. Its spokesperson, Colonel Allie Weiskopf, told CNN, “Special Operations did not support this operation to include intel support.”

As part of what the White House describes as a counter-narcotics effort, the US has destroyed more than 30 suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Until this month, though, American strikes had been limited to vessels operating in international waters, despite repeated threats by Trump to expand operations onto Venezuelan soil.

On Dec. 29, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 29, 2025

The strike is an escalation in Washington's confrontation with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the US has been seeking to unseat through an increasingly forceful campaign. The administration has also included a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers travelling to and from Venezuela.

US President Donald Trump appeared to acknowledge the strike publicly for the first time during an interview last week. Trump confirmed an attack had taken place but did not provide details.

Trump referenced the operation again in an interview on Friday, saying the US had taken out a “big facility where ships come from.” Pressed again on Monday, he said the US struck “in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” but refused to say whether the CIA or the military carried out the attack.

“So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area,” Trump said Monday. “It's the implementation area, that's where they implement, and that is no longer around.”

CNN described the strike as tactically successful, saying that the dock and associated boats were destroyed. The impact was reportedly limited, as traffickers rely on multiple port facilities along Venezuela's coastline. The strike also appeared to attract little immediate attention, even within Venezuela.