Maduro Says Venezuela Intercepted Three Drug-Trafficking Aircraft, Touts Broader Anti-Drug Push

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said on Wednesday that the country intercepted three aircraft allegedly tied to drug trafficking, presenting the operations as an assertion of national sovereignty and an escalation of its anti-drug push amid heightened U.S. military activity in the region.

Maduro said two aircraft entered Venezuela "from the north" on Wednesday, with a third detected Monday, as France24 reports:

"In accordance with our law, we have an interception law ... pim, pum, pam! Two drug-trafficking planes. So they respect Venezuela. And just like that, pim, pum, pam every day! Exercising what? What is that called? Exercising sovereignty!"

Venezuela's armed forces said the plane intercepted on Monday, identified as a Cessna 310 with the tail number XBRED, turned off its transponder and communications before entering the country "illicitly and furtively" from the Caribbean. Domingo Hernández Lárez, the Operational Strategic Commander, said through a social media post that radar systems detected the aircraft and that it was "immobilized and disabled," bringing the claimed total to 21 such aircraft this year.

He added that the operations were conducted "in exercise of full national sovereignty."

Maduro on Wednesday linked the actions to a broader anti-drug campaign following the U.S. deployment of naval assets in the Caribbean and Pacific. U.S. officials say the deployments, which include warships, drones and strike aircraft, are aimed at countering narcotics trafficking.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the Pentagon carried out another "lethal kinetic strike" at President Donald Trump's direction on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean that killed four men, pushing the total of deaths linked to the operation to at least 60.

Caracas has characterized the U.S. posture as a pretext for military intervention and regime change. Venezuela's defense minister recently warned neighboring Trinidad and Tobago — where the United States deployed a destroyer for exercises — that any violation of Venezuelan sovereignty "will not be tolerated."

As part of its ongoing operations, Venezuela also said on Wednesday that it destroyed two camps in the country's south linked to what authorities described as Colombian "narcoterrorist" groups, as El Debate reports. Hernández Lárez said pamphlets from the ELN guerrilla group were recovered, along with ammunition, fuel, all-terrain vehicles and tactical gear.

Maduro and senior officials have denied accusations by Washington that Venezuelan authorities are involved in narcotics trafficking, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Wednesday that more than 63,000 kilograms of drugs have been seized so far this year.