Trump: United States hit dock for drug ships from Venezuela

(Patria) - The United States attacked and destroyed a dock for alleged Venezuelan drug ships, President Donald Trump said on Monday, which could represent the first land attack in a military campaign against drug trafficking from Latin America, AFP reported.

His confirmation of the incident comes as he intensifies his pressure campaign on Venezuelan leftist President Nicolas Maduro, who has accused Trump of seeking regime change.

"There was a big explosion at the dock where they were loading drug ships," he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, when he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

"So we attacked all the ships, and now we attacked the area, it's the implementation area, that's where they do it. And it's no longer there."

The US leader did not want to say whether it was a military or CIA operation or where the attack took place, only saying it was "off the coast".

When asked if he had spoken with Maduro recently, after an earlier phone call in November, Trump said they had spoken "quite recently", but said "not much came of it".

Trump was asked to elaborate on seemingly offhand comments he made in a radio interview broadcast on Friday, in which he appeared to mention a land attack for the first time.

"They have a big factory or a big facility where they send, you know, where the ships come from," Trump told billionaire supporter John Catsimatidis on WABC radio in New York.
"Two nights ago, we destroyed it. So we hit them very hard."

Trump did not say where the facility was located in the interview, nor did he provide any other details.
There was no official comment from the Venezuelan government.

The Pentagon had previously forwarded questions to the White House. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from AFP.

Trump has been threatening for weeks that land attacks on drug cartels in the region would begin "soon," but this is the first apparent instance.

US forces have also carried out numerous attacks in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific since September, killing more than 100 people.

Human rights groups say the attacks could constitute extrajudicial killings, which Washington denies. The Trump administration is increasing pressure on Maduro, accusing the Venezuelan leader of running a drug cartel himself and imposing a blockade on oil tankers.