Khaberni - The "Associated Press" agency reported, citing two sources familiar with the details of a secret operation, that the CIA was behind a drone strike carried out last week targeting an area of docking suspected of being used by Venezuelan drug smuggling networks.
This marks the first known direct operation on Venezuelan territory since the United States began launching strikes in September, representing a significant escalation in the pressure campaign that the American administration has been pursuing for months against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, while Venezuelan officials did not acknowledge the strike.
US President Donald Trump first referred to the operation in a radio interview on Friday with John Catsimatidis on WABC in New York, stating that the United States destroyed a "large" facility used as a launching point for ships.
Speaking to reporters on Monday while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump added that the operation targeted "a docking area where they were loading the boats with drugs," but he refrained from commenting when asked whether the strike was conducted by the military or the CIA.
CIA officials and the White House also declined to provide further details.
