President Donald Trump confirmed that United States forces struck a dock facility in Venezuela used to load boats allegedly tied to narcotics smuggling, signalling an escalation in Washington’s long-running pressure campaign against drug trafficking and the Maduro government.

Mr. Trump described a “major explosion” in the area where drug boats were loaded and said the site, which he characterised as an “implementation area,” had been destroyed, reducing a key logistics hub for shipments bound for the United States.

He did not disclose whether the strike was carried out by the U.S. military or the Central Intelligence Agency, and senior national security agencies have declined to comment publicly on the matter.

The president made the remarks while discussing broader efforts to interdict drug shipments and disrupt illicit networks, part of an intensified posture that has included naval deployments in the Caribbean and strikes on suspected trafficker vessels, which the administration has said have killed more than a hundred suspected traffickers since earlier this year.

Venezuelan authorities, including President Nicolás Maduro, have not directly addressed the reported strike, though Caracas officials have previously characterised U.S. actions as illegitimate pressure or attempts at regime change.

The lack of independent verification of the facility attack and the absence of confirmation from either government raise questions about the precise circumstances and location of the action, but Mr. Trump has framed it as part of his administration’s effort to defend U.S. borders from drug flows and violent criminal organisations.

The expanded operations mark one of the most significant shifts in U.S. engagement in the Western Hemisphere in years, moving from maritime interdictions to strikes closer to or within Venezuelan territory, in line with the president’s ongoing campaign against narcotics networks and their alleged ties to state actors.