WASHINGTON – Two individuals who survived a recent U.S. military strike on a vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean are set to be repatriated to their home nations of Ecuador and Colombia, President Donald Trump announced on Saturday.
The military successfully rescued the duo following the attack on a submersible vessel last Thursday. This incident marks at least the sixth such engagement since the beginning of September.
Trump expressed his satisfaction over the operation via social media, stating, “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.” He added that U.S. Intelligence had confirmed the vessel was predominantly loaded with Fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.
Following the president’s statement, the Pentagon released a brief black-and-white video on X, showcasing the strike. The footage depicts a vessel cutting through the waves with its front partially submerged, followed by a series of explosions, one notably at the rear.
The Republican president clarified that two individuals aboard the vessel were killed—one more than initially reported. The two survivors are set to be returned to their respective countries “for detention and prosecution.”
With Trump’s update on the death toll via his Truth Social platform, it is now confirmed that U.S. military operations against suspected drug vessels in the region have resulted in at least 29 fatalities.
The president has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. He is relying on the same legal authority used by the George W. Bush administration when it declared a war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks, and that includes the ability to capture and detain combatants and to use lethal force to take out their leadership. Trump is also treating the suspected traffickers as if they were enemy soldiers in a traditional war.
The repatriation avoids questions for the Trump administration about what the legal status of the two would have been in the U.S. justice system. It may also sidestep some of the legal issues that arose out of the detention of enemy combatants in the global war on terrorism as well as challenges to the constitutionality of the current operation.
To some legal scholars, Trump’s use of such military force against suspect drug cartels, along with his authorization of covert action inside Venezuela, possibly to oust President Nicolás Maduro, stretches the bounds of international law.
On Friday, Trump seemed to confirm reports that Maduro has offered a stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in recent months to try to stave off mounting pressure from the United States. Venezuelan government officials have also floated a plan in which Maduro would eventually leave office, according to a former Trump administration official. That plan was also rejected by the White House, The Associated Press reported.
The strikes in the Caribbean have caused unease among members of Congress from both parties and complaints about receiving insufficient information on how the attacks are being conducted. But most Republican senators backed the administration last week on a measure that would have required Trump’s team to get approval from Congress before more strikes.
Meanwhile, another resolution to be considered would prevent Trump from outright attacking Venezuela without congressional authorization.
___
Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
