The US president said there had been a "major explosion" where "they load the boats up with drugs" - but did not give more details or the dock's location. Venezuela's government is yet to respond. The explosion was caused by a drone strike carried out by the CIA, said CNN and the New York Times, citing sources close to the matter. If confirmed, it would be the first known US operation inside Venezuela. Since September, the US has launched strikes on what it says are drug-smuggling boats, targeting more than 20 vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean, and killing at least 100 people.

The most recent strike was on Monday, with US Southern Command saying in a social media post that two "narco-terrorists" were killed in a "lethal kinetic strike" in the eastern Pacific. Trump has previously threatened land strikes in Venezuela, as well as authorising covert CIA action in the nation, as part of a pressure campaign on President Nicolás Maduro.

Reporters asked Trump on Monday if the CIA had carried out the attack, and he said, "I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was".  "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," he said of the strike. Trump's comments are the second time he has mentioned the explosion. In a radio interview last week, Trump described a US operation against a "big facility", but he provided limited details. The Pentagon referred questions from BBC News to the White House. The White House has yet to comment. When the US has previously carried out strikes on alleged drug boats - including Monday's - the Pentagon has published images and videos on social media to confirm the strikes. So far, no images of the dock incident have been shared. (BBC)