ReutersPresident Donald Trump said the US had struck a “dock” linked to suspected Venezuelan drug vessels.
Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday, Trump said there was a “major explosion” last week in which “boats were loaded with drugs.” He did not specify where the dock was located or whether the US military or the CIA were involved.
The Venezuelan government has not yet responded, and it is unclear whether the strike occurred on Venezuelan soil.
Since September, the United States has struck more than 20 drug-smuggling vessels, many from Venezuela, in the Pacific and Caribbean Sea, killing at least 100 people.
The latest blow came Monday, with US Southern Command saying in a social media post that two “narco-terrorists” were killed in a “lethal kinetic strike” in the Eastern Pacific.
Trump has previously threatened ground strikes in Venezuela and also authorized covert CIA operations in the country as part of a pressure campaign against President Nicolas Maduro.
On Monday, Trump was asked by reporters whether the CIA carried out the attack, and he responded: “I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was.”
“We hit all the boats and now we are in the area… this is the implementation area. They implement there, but this is no longer the case,” he said about the strike.
Trump's comments are the second time he has mentioned the explosion. In a radio interview last week, Trump described the U.S. operation against a “major target” but provided limited details.
The Pentagon referred questions from BBC News to the White House. The White House has not yet commented.
When the US has previously struck suspected drug vessels, including on Monday, the Pentagon has posted images and videos on social media confirming the strikes. So far, no photographs of the dock incident have been released.
The Trump administration has characterized the strikes on shipping in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific as attacks on terrorists trying to bring deadly and illegal drugs into the United States by boat.
The US has sent 15,000 troops to the Caribbean, as well as a number of aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers and amphibious assault ships.
The stated goal of the deployment – the largest in the region since the 1989 US invasion of Panama – is to stem the flow of fentanyl and cocaine into the US.
Among the ships is the world's largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford. It is reported that American helicopters took off from it before American troops. hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on December 10.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil revenues to finance drug crimes. Venezuela condemned the seizures as “piracy.”
Maduro has denied US claims that he is the leader of a cartel and accused the US of using its “war on drugs” as a pretext to try to overthrow him and take over Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
Trump was asked last week whether the takeovers were aimed at removing Maduro from power. Trump responded: “Well, I think it probably would… It's up to him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do this. But again, we'll figure it out.”
