CIA 'carries out drone strike' on Venezuelan drug port in first US land attack inside the country
The CIA drone strike was carried out on a remote dock on the coast of Venezuela believed to used by the Tren de Aragua gang to stockpile and transfer drugs.
The CIA is responsible for carrying out the first US land strike in Venezuela on a port facility believed to have been storing drugs bound for America, sources claim.
President Donald Trump confirmed the Christmas Eve strike on Monday, days after he casually discussed in a radio interview the attack on a facility 'where the ship comes from.'
The strike, which took place on a port dock authorities believe was the home base of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months, signaled a further escalation of tensions between the two countries.
Multiple sources have now told CNN that the drone strike was carried out by the CIA, after Trump refused to weigh in on the theory.
Asked if the CIA had carried out the attack, Trump said: 'I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was but I don't want to say who it was.'
But Trump has previously said that he has authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela.
Sources said the strike took place on a remote dock on the coast of Venezuela believed to used by the Tren de Aragua gang to stockpile and transfer drugs.
The CIA received intelligence support from US Special Operations Forces. No one was killed and there was nobody at the facility when the attack took place.
The CIA carried out the first US land strike in Venezuela that Donald Trump casually confirmed in a radio interview last week in a further escalation of tensions between the two countries
The President said Friday that the ChristmasEve strike was on a facility 'where the ship comes from' – seemingly referencing the origination location of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House, CIA and US Special Operations Command for comment.
Trump initially seemed to confirm a strike in what appeared to be an impromptu radio interview Friday.
Following the Daily Mail's reporting of the under-the-radar strike, Trump confirmed the launch of land strikes in the region, and said the US struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs 'load up.'
'There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,' Trump said as he met in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.