Washington, Oct 19: US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that a US military strike on a drug-carrying submarine killed two “narcoterrorists” while two other suspects survived and will be returned to their home countries for prosecution. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the submarine was intercepted along a known narco-trafficking route and was carrying significant quantities of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.
“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well-known narcotrafficking transit route,” Trump wrote.
According to the President, the two survivors are from Ecuador and Colombia and will be repatriated for detention and legal proceedings. “The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution,” he added, emphasizing that no US personnel were harmed during the operation.
“No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said.
Al Jazeera reported that the strike occurred Thursday, with US forces rescuing the two surviving suspects via helicopter and transporting them to a nearby US Navy warship, where they remained through Friday evening.
The President asserted that the interdiction potentially prevented a major drug crisis in the US, claiming, “At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore.” Trump also stated that US intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying primarily fentanyl, noting that four known “narcoterrorists” were aboard, two of whom were killed.
Since September, the US has conducted at least six strikes on vessels, mostly speedboats, in the Caribbean, some reportedly originating from Venezuela. While Washington asserts these operations are dealing a heavy blow to narcotics trafficking, concrete evidence linking those killed to smuggling has not yet been publicly presented.
Trump’s statement brings the total number of fatalities from US strikes on suspected smuggling vessels in the region to at least 29, according to Al Jazeera.
