December 30, 2025 | 10:44 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States launched a drone strike on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela earlier this month, as reported by CNN on Monday, according to Anadolu.
Quoting several sources, CNN stated that the previously undisclosed strike targeted a remote pier believed by the U.S. government to be used by a Venezuelan drug trafficking group, Tren de Aragua, for storing and loading drugs onto ships.
The report stated that there were no casualties in the attack because the pier was empty when the U.S. drone hit it.
Last week, President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. military had destroyed a major facility in Venezuela, without disclosing the location or target of the strike.
"We just knocked out — I don’t know if you read or you saw — they have a big plant, or a big facility, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard," he said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, when asked for further details, Trump said "there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs" and that an "implementation area" was “no longer around."
He did not specify which U.S. agency carried out the strike, only stating that he knew who was responsible but did not want to disclose it.
Asked if he had recently spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said he had spoken with him "pretty recently" but added that "not much" came of the conversation.
On December 17, Trump designated the Venezuelan government as a "foreign terrorist organization" and announced a full blockade of all oil tanker ships sanctioned, heading to or from Venezuela.
The 79-year-old President emphasized that his government will not allow a "hostile regime to take the oil, land, or other assets" that he believes should be "returned to the United States."
The U.S. has long argued that its military presence in the Caribbean region is to combat drug trafficking.
Since early September, Trump has authorized attacks on ships suspected of smuggling drugs in Venezuelan waters.
In November, Trump stated that the leadership of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would soon come to an end. However, he emphasized that the U.S. had no intention of going to war with Venezuela.
The Venezuelan government considers the U.S. actions as a provocation to disrupt regional stability and a violation of international agreements regarding the Caribbean's status as a demilitarized and nuclear-free zone.
Read: Trump Announces US Will Store Oil and Ships Seized from Venezuela
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