Trump Says U.S. “Knocked Out” a Dock Facility Tied to Venezuelan Drug Boats

President Donald Trump said the United States had destroyed a facility linked to alleged drug-boat operations, a statement that, if it refers to Venezuela, would be a significant escalation of the military campaign there, NBC News and CBS News reported.

In a short phone interview with WABC radio in New York on Friday, Trump referred to 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. So we hit them very hard.” He gave no location or other details, NBC News reported, and NBC News said it had not independently confirmed a strike. Asked by a reporter at Mar-a-Lago on Monday whether the military carried it out, Trump said, “Well, it doesn’t matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area, where they load the boats up with drugs.” He added that it had struck “the implementation area” and that “that is no longer around,” CBS News reported.

If the facility was in Venezuela, NBC News said, it would be the first known land strike in U.S. counternarcotics efforts against the country. Trump has threatened such strikes, CBS News reported. CBS News said The New York Times reported that the president was referring to a drug facility in Venezuela, and that CNN reported the CIA used a drone to carry out the attack.

The apparent attack follows months of military pressure on Venezuela. Since September, the U.S. military has struck more than two dozen boats the administration says were carrying drugs, killing more than 100 people, according to CBS News and NBC News. The 30th boat strike took place in the eastern Pacific on Monday and killed two people, according to U.S. Southern Command. NBC News noted that the White House has said the boats carried drugs but officials have not provided evidence.

The administration accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of drug trafficking and of working with gangs the U.S. has designated terrorist organizations, charges he denies, CBS News said. The U.S. has built up its military presence in the region and recently seized two sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast.