CNN: US Strikes Drug Trafficking Facility in Venezuela for the First Time

For the first time, the United States has struck a port facility in Venezuela, which was allegedly used by drug traffickers.

This was reported by CNN, citing its sources.

According to the publication, in early December, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used a drone to strike a port facility that the US authorities believed to be a logistics center for the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua.

Drugs were allegedly stored there and loaded onto boats for transportation. At the time of the attack, no one was at the facility, so there were no casualties. The strike reportedly destroyed the facility’s infrastructure.

Two sources said that US special operations forces provided intelligence support for the operation.

However, Colonel Ellie Weiskopf, a spokeswoman for the US Special Operations Command, denied this. She stated that their structures did not provide support for this operation, including intelligence.

At the same time, US President Donald Trump mentioned the strike for the first time in an interview on December 26, which initially did not attract much attention.

The head of the White House did not provide any details, including in response to direct questions from journalists. He merely noted that the United States had destroyed a “large facility where the ships come from.”

When asked about it again on Monday, Trump said the US attacked “in the area of the docks where they load the boats with drugs.” But he declined to comment when asked whether the attack was carried out by the military or the CIA.

One source said the strike was successful because it destroyed the facility and its vessels, but called it largely symbolic because it is just one of many port facilities used by drug traffickers in Venezuela.

Journalists note that this strike could significantly exacerbate tensions between the United States and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is under pressure from the United States to resign.

Trump recently said that Maduro’s regime has been officially recognized as a foreign terrorist organization. He also added that Venezuela is allegedly completely surrounded by “the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America.”