A covert CIA drone strike on Venezuelan territory earlier this month has intensified already fraught relations between Washington and Caracas, marking what sources describe as the first known US attack on a fixed land-based target inside Venezuela.
The strike targeted a remote port facility along Venezuela’s coastline that US intelligence agencies believe the Tren de Aragua criminal network uses to store drugs and transfer them onto boats for international trafficking routes, according to officials familiar with the operation. No casualties were reported, and the dock was apparently empty at the time of the attack.
Before President Donald Trump hinted at the strike in a recent interview, providing few operational details and refusing to say whether the US military or the CIA carried out the action, it had not been made public. CNN was the first to report on the strike.
How has US policy toward Venezuela recently shifted?
Venezuela has emerged as a major transit hub for cocaine shipments headed for the United States and Europe, according to US officials who have framed the operation as part of a larger counter-narcotics campaign.
To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2025
Drug trafficking organizations are increasingly being referred to by the Trump administration as “narcoterrorist” organizations, drawing comparisons to extremist networks that were targeted during the international war on terror.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently compared regional traffickers to al Qaeda, saying they are being pursued with similar intelligence-driven precision.
“These narcoterrorists are the al Qaeda of our hemisphere,”
Hegseth said earlier this month.
In recent months, the US has destroyed more than 30 vessels suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, while also imposing a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela. Until now, however, US strikes had been limited to international waters, where the military has clearer legal authority.
Earlier this year, Trump expanded the CIA’s operational authority in Latin America, including inside Venezuela — a shift that reportedly enabled the agency to conduct land-based actions beyond the scope of traditional military missions.
Why does Maduro accuse the US of covert warfare?
For a long time, the Venezuelan government has accused the United States of using covert actions, cyber operations, sanctions, and support for opposition groups as part of an undeclared hybrid warfare campaign to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro.
Caracas frequently disputes US accusations that it aids in widespread drug trafficking, arguing that Washington exploits the drug problem as a cover for regime change. Additionally, US intelligence services have been accused by Venezuelan officials of supporting armed incursions and sabotage operations.
Analysts say that confirmation of a US intelligence-led attack on Venezuelan territory could be used by Maduro to bolster allegations of foreign aggression and justify additional security crackdowns, even though the CIA strike reportedly went mostly unnoticed inside Venezuela at the time.
Intelligence dispute and secrecy
Two sources told CNN that US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support for the operation, a claim publicly denied by US Special Operations Command, which said it did not assist
“to include intel support.”
The CIA declined to comment, while requests for responses from the White House and Venezuela’s communications and foreign ministries went unanswered.
One official familiar with the strike described it as operationally successful but strategically limited, noting that the destroyed dock represented only one of many trafficking nodes along Venezuela’s extensive coastline.
A history of US covert maritime operations
The reported CIA strike echoes past US intelligence-linked maritime operations in Latin America, which have often carried significant political fallout.
In an attempt to overthrow the Sandinista government, the CIA secretly mined harbors in Nicaragua during the 1980s, which is one of the most prominent instances. Later, the operation was denounced internationally and the United States was found to have violated international law in a historic ruling by the International Court of Justice.
The failed 2020 “Operation Gideon,” a disastrous seaborne incursion involving US-based private security contractors that Caracas claimed was supported by US intelligence, has been cited by Venezuela more recently. Although Washington denied any official involvement, the event increased Venezuelan concerns about clandestine maritime assaults.
Analysts say the latest drone strike fits into this historical pattern of deniable, intelligence-led operations, designed to apply pressure while stopping short of overt military confrontation.
Political pressure beyond drugs
While US officials publicly emphasize counter-narcotics objectives, senior figures within the administration have acknowledged broader political goals. Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said in a recent interview that attacks on drug boats were intended to pressure Maduro into backing down politically — to make him “cry uncle.”
So far, that pressure has failed to produce concessions. Maduro remains firmly in power, bolstered by the military and support from allies including Russia, China, and Iran.
