CIA reportedly behind first land strikes in Venezuela

The first evidence of the CIA’s lethal covert program in Venezuela ordered by President Donald Trump emerged on Monday after reports confirmed the agency was behind a strike on a port in the country.
According to sources speaking with CNN, the first known strike on a land target in Venezuela consisted of a drone strike on a remote dock that intelligence indicated was being used by the Tren de Aragua gang. No one was present at the dock when it was hit, and there were no casualties.
The Department of War declined to comment.
Trump has only provided vague details regarding the strike, first alluding to it in an interview with radio hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby on Friday.
“We just knocked out — I don’t know if you read or you saw — they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from,” he said.
“Two nights ago, we knocked that out,” Trump added. “So we hit them very hard.”
He provided more details on Monday during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.
“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 responded when asked about the strike.
Describing the attack, Trump said there was a “major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” adding it took place “along the shore.”
Two sources told CNN that U.S. Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support to the operation; however, a U.S. Special Operations Command spokeswoman, Col. Allie Weiskopf, denied this.
US CONDUCTS 30TH STRIKE IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST ALLEGED DRUG BOATS, KILLING TWO
Trump authorized lethal CIA operations in Venezuela in October, though no further reports were released on the matter.
While the United States’s focus shifted toward land, the U.S. continued its campaign against drug boats on Monday, launching its 30th strike and killing two suspected drug traffickers. Over 100 people have been killed in the military campaign against alleged drug trafficking boats since the first strike on Sept. 2.