Trump claims US struck Venezuelan dock in anti-drug escalation

Donald Trump has claimed that the United States carried out an attack on a dock in Venezuela that he said was used to load “boats up with drugs”, marking what appears to be the first acknowledged land strike by US forces in the country since Washington launched its pressure campaign four months ago.

Speaking on Monday, Trump linked the alleged strike to a broader US effort to disrupt drug trafficking routes into the United States. His comments came as the US military separately confirmed another strike on what it described as a drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, an operation that reportedly killed at least two people.

Trump first mentioned the Venezuelan incident during a radio interview on Friday. Pressed by reporters on Monday about reports of an explosion, he said the US had hit a facility tied to drug operations.

“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. “They load the boats up with drugs, so we hit all the boats, and now, we hit the area. It’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement. And that is no longer around.”

Trump refused to clarify whether the US military or the CIA carried out the strike, or to specify its exact location.

“I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was. But, you know, it was along the shore,” he said.

There was no immediate response from Venezuelan authorities, and no independent reporting from inside the country confirming a US strike on land. Caracas has consistently denied any involvement in drug trafficking and accuses Washington of using anti-narcotics claims as a pretext to undermine President Nicolas Maduro and gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

If confirmed, the alleged dock attack would represent a significant escalation. Until now, US operations have focused on international waters in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. According to figures released by the Trump administration, at least 107 people have been killed in 30 strikes since early September.

Legal scholars and human rights groups have described the campaign as illegal under both US and international law, characterising the killings as extrajudicial. The US Southern Command, however, said the latest victims on Monday were “two male narco-terrorists” and claimed their vessel was engaged in “narco-trafficking operations”.

The strikes come amid a substantial US military buildup in the region, involving more than 15,000 troops, alongside the seizure of multiple oil tankers as part of a blockade ordered by Trump on sanctioned vessels entering or leaving Venezuela.

For months, Trump has openly floated the idea of expanding US operations beyond maritime targets. He has recently said the US would move from attacking boats to striking on land “soon”.

In October, Trump confirmed he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The agency declined to comment on his remarks this week.

Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, underscored the administration’s posture in an interview published this month, saying the president “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle”.