U.S. Counter-Smuggling Operation Hits its First Land Target

The U.S. military has repeatedly attacked suspected drug-smuggling boats in international waters off South and Central America over the past few months, including a new strike announced Monday. But it has held off on striking land targets - at least, until last week. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that American forces had hit a dock allegedly used by smugglers.

"There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs," Trump said, adding new clarification to earlier comments. "We hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement. And that is no longer around."

Trump did not name the country where the strike occurred, nor would he confirm which American units carried out the explosion. "I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was. But you know it was along the shore," he said.

On Friday, Trump told press that American forces had hit a "big plant" where suspected smuggling vessels start their journeys. U.S. assets had hit that facility "very hard" midweek, he said.

Trump did not discuss the location of the site, or whether there may have been any possible casualties on scene.

The announcement is a significant escalation of the administration's effort to fight cocaine traffickers in the southern approaches to the U.S. market. So far, American forces have destroyed 30 suspected smuggling boats, killed more than 100 people, and rescued and repatriated two survivors. The latest attack was announced on Monday night, and targeted a suspected narco-trafficking boat in the Eastern Pacific. U.S. Southern Command released a video of the attack, below.

On Dec. 29, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 29, 2025

The strike campaign began as a way to pressure the regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. The drug is not manufactured in Venezuela, but it is widely known to be trafficked through the country in substantial quantities, much of it headed for Caribbean seaports and onwards to European consumer markets.

Given the scale and the value of the Venezuelan cocaine transport corridor, the Maduro regime and its military officials are widely suspected to be aware of and benefitting from the illegal trafficking network. White House officials view the strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug trafficking operations as a way to pressure Maduro, along with other stringent economic measures like steep restrictions on the country's gold and oil exports.

The strikes have since expanded into the Eastern Pacific, targeting the boats that depart Colombia and transit north to Central America, where the drugs are offloaded for onward delivery over land or for infiltration into containerized freight. One burned boat has been recovered by locals in a town on Colombia's Guajira Peninsula, located on the Gulf of Venezuela, according to the New York Times.