The US military has destroyed a suspected drug-carrying submarine en route to American shores along a major narcotrafficking route in the Caribbean, President Donald Trump announced on Saturday.
“It was my great honor to destroy a very large drug-carrying submarine navigating towards the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that US intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying mostly fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.
Trump claimed the submarine posed a massive threat, stating, “Two of the terrorists were killed. At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore. The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution.”
A Pentagon video released on X showed black-and-white footage of the strike. The semi-submersible vessel was seen moving through the waves with its front submerged before multiple explosions hit, including one over the vessel’s rear.
Two survivors were rescued by US forces via helicopter and transported to a US Navy warship. Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed the return of the Colombian detainee for prosecution, while Ecuador’s government has not yet provided details about repatriation plans.
Trump highlighted that no US forces were harmed in the strike and justified the operation by framing it as part of an ongoing armed conflict with drug cartels, using legal authority akin to the post-9/11 war on terrorism. The operation treated suspected traffickers as enemy combatants.
This strike marks at least the sixth US military action targeting semi-submersible drug vessels in the Caribbean since early September. The Pentagon said the targeted vessel was primarily loaded with fentanyl, emphasizing the scale of the narcotics threat to the United States.
The US military presence in the Caribbean has been strengthened with guided missile destroyers, F-35 jets, a nuclear submarine, and around 6,500 troops, amid rising tensions with Venezuelan authorities.
Trump reiterated, “America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea.”
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