In a dramatic escalation of the United States’ counternarcotics campaign in the Caribbean, a U.S. drone strike targeted a port facility on Venezuela’s coast late on Christmas Eve, marking the first known attack inside Venezuelan territory as part of Washington’s months-long Operation Southern Spear. The strike, which occurred on December 24, 2025, was confirmed by President Donald Trump in a radio interview two days later and has since been corroborated by multiple news outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, and the Miami Herald.
According to The New York Times, the targeted site was a storage and loading point linked to criminal organizations such as the Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang, as well as other drug trafficking groups. The U.S. government stated that the facility played a key role in maritime cocaine shipments moving through the Caribbean and ultimately destined for the United States.
Eyewitness accounts from the region of Alta Guajira, near the border between Venezuela and Colombia, recounted a powerful explosion on the afternoon of December 18, 2025. Members of the indigenous Wayuu community told NBC News and Telemundo that the blast destroyed at least two wooden structures used for storage and damaged dozens of fishing nets. Residents described seeing gray, metallic debris scattered across the area and reported temporary hearing loss from the force of the explosion. "Never had I seen anything like this," said Ana, a Wayuu witness cited by NBC News, adding that her family’s boat and fishing gear were destroyed in the incident.
While the U.S. government has not provided details on the precise location or the agency responsible for the strike, President Trump, speaking on December 26, 2025, on WABC radio, said, "We just dismantled—they have a big plant or facility where they send, you know, where the boats come from. Two nights ago, we dismantled that. So we gave them a very hard hit." Trump did not specify whether the operation was conducted by military forces or intelligence agencies, nor did he disclose the exact coordinates, saying only that it happened "along the coast." CNN and The New York Times reported that no one was present at the facility during the strike, resulting in no casualties.
Further evidence of the strike emerged when Telemundo broadcast images on December 30, 2025, of twisted metal fragments recovered from the Venezuelan side of the border. Weapons analysts cited by the network, such as Daniel Blanco Paz, compared the debris to components of U.S.-made AGM-114 Hellfire or the newer AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, both commonly launched from MQ-9 Reaper drones and U.S. attack helicopters. The U.S. Navy describes the Hellfire as a "precision air-to-ground weapon" weighing between 45 and 49 kilograms, with a range of 7 to 11 kilometers depending on the variant and flight profile.
Residents in Colombia’s La Guajira region, just across the border, also reported hearing a thunderous explosion in mid-December, followed by plumes of dark smoke rising from the sea. Debris—including a burned vessel roughly 30 meters long, two severely damaged bodies, charred fuel drums, life vests, and empty packages with traces of marijuana—washed ashore near Puerto López, Colombia, on December 20. Local officials said the incident marked the first visual evidence tied to the U.S. campaign in the region, which has focused on dismantling illicit maritime trafficking routes long associated with cocaine shipments.
Operation Southern Spear, launched in September 2025, has seen the U.S. intensify its military operations against drug trafficking networks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. According to The New York Times and Miami Herald, U.S. authorities report at least 35 attacks since the campaign began, resulting in more than 100 deaths and the destruction of numerous vessels. On December 31, 2025, the Pentagon confirmed strikes on three additional boats linked to narcotics trafficking. The U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Task Force Southern Spear publicly announced these maritime attacks via its official X (formerly Twitter) account, though it did not specify the nationality of the targeted vessels.
The region where the recent strike occurred is notorious for overlapping criminal activity. Armed groups, including Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN), operate across the Venezuela-Colombia border, controlling stretches of coastline and facilitating drug shipments. Residents told the Miami Herald that until September, it was common to see high-powered boats not used by local fishermen but by traffickers. The area also hosts a couple of Venezuelan military facilities, adding to the complexity and sensitivity of the operation.
Amid mounting speculation, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro neither confirmed nor denied the strike during a televised interview on January 1, 2026. Instead, he stressed his government’s willingness to negotiate with Washington on counternarcotics cooperation. "If they truly want to talk seriously about fighting drug trafficking, we are ready," Maduro stated, as reported by Telemundo and Factchequeado. He also reiterated Venezuela’s openness to U.S. investment in its oil sector, citing Chevron as an example. Maduro has consistently denied that Venezuela produces illegal drugs and has accused the U.S. of violating international law with its strikes, a sentiment echoed by Colombian officials.
The United Nations has weighed in, warning that such unilateral attacks could breach international law and urging Washington to halt the strikes. Both Venezuela and Colombia have accused the United States of carrying out extrajudicial killings in the course of Operation Southern Spear.
Meanwhile, satellite imagery from Europe’s Sentinel-2 system dated January 1, 2026, revealed the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, operating 227 nautical miles north of Caracas. This deployment is part of a broader U.S. military buildup in the region, which now includes guided-missile destroyers, amphibious vessels, and an estimated 15,000 troops. U.S. officials maintain that the presence is aimed at dismantling drug trafficking networks, including the so-called Cartel de los Soles, which Washington alleges is run by Maduro and senior members of his regime—an accusation Caracas has repeatedly denied.
As the dust settles, the December drone strike stands as a stark reminder of the escalating tensions and the high stakes in the ongoing struggle over drug trafficking routes in the Caribbean. With both sides digging in, and the international community watching closely, the path forward remains uncertain—but the impact of this latest strike is already reverberating across the region.