The Whitehall nerves are jangling tonight. A US airstrike has killed the leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang. The hit was precise.
The fallout is anything but. UK counter-terror officials are now on high alert. They are monitoring spillover effects.
The gang has tentacles reaching into Europe. Britain is not immune. The Home Office has been briefed.
The Met's Counter Terrorism Command is watching. This is not a drill. The Tren de Aragua has been linked to human trafficking and money laundering.
Its reach extends from Caracas to London. The question now is revenge. Will the gang retaliate?
Will its cells in the UK activate? The intelligence community is cautious. They are looking for chatter.
Nothing yet. But the silence is loud. The PM has been informed.
He is due a COBRA meeting tomorrow. The opposition is demanding answers. Labour wants to know what the UK knew.
They want to know if British assets were involved. They weren't. But that doesn't matter.
The political game is on. The narrative is shifting. The government will be judged on its response.
The usual dance of leaks and briefings has begun. A senior Whitehall source tells me: 'We are not out of the woods.' The woods, it seems, are global.
And the trees are closing in.
