Saved at least 25,000 Americans: Donald Trump as US strikes drug carrying submarine
Trump stated that two people on board were killed — one more than earlier reported — while two others were rescued by US forces following Thursday’s strike. The survivors were airlifted by helicopter to a US Navy warship.
PTC News Desk: The US military has destroyed a suspected drug-smuggling submarine that was heading toward American shores along a well-known narcotrafficking route in the Caribbean, President Donald Trump announced on Saturday.
Trump stated that two people on board were killed — one more than earlier reported — while two others were rescued by US forces following Thursday’s strike. The survivors were airlifted by helicopter to a US Navy warship.
According to Trump, the two survivors — citizens of Ecuador and Colombia — are being sent back “for detention and prosecution.” Colombian President Gustavo Petro later confirmed the return of the Colombian detainee, saying on X, “We are relieved he is alive, and he will face justice.” Ecuador’s government press office said it had not yet received details regarding repatriation.
With this latest incident, the total number of fatalities from US military operations against suspected drug-running vessels in the region has risen to at least 29, including 27 deaths from earlier strikes since early September.
Trump defended the military actions by claiming that the US is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, invoking the same legal framework the George W. Bush administration used in the post-9/11 war on terror. This framework permits the capture and detention of enemy combatants and the use of lethal force against cartel leaders, with Trump treating suspected traffickers as combatants in a conventional war.