US destroys suspected drug vessel: '25,000 Americans would have died', says Trump
2 people aboard submarine were killed while two others will be repatriated; 29 people have been killed in similar strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels
In the latest American strike on suspected drug vessels, US President Donald Trump on Saturday (October 18) announced that the military has eliminated a suspected drug-transporting submarine moving towards America on a well-known narcotrafficking route in the Caribbean.
Announcing the development on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that two of the “terrorists” on board were killed in the attack and two others are being repatriated to their countries in Ecuador and Colombia for detention and prosecution.
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‘Vessel carried Fentanyl, illegal 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," the American president said in his social media post.
“US Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics,” he claimed.
‘25,000 Americans would have died’
Trump said that had the submarine reached US shores, it would have killed 25,000 Americans.
“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," he said.
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Trump, however, confirmed that no US forces were harmed in the strike, while asserting that under his watch “the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, bb land or by sea.”
Pentagon shares attack’s video
After Trump's announcement, the Pentagon posted on X a brief black-and-white video of the strike. In the clip, a vessel can be seen moving through the waves, its front portion submerged inches below the water's surface. Then, several explosions are seen, with at least one over the back of the vessel.
In a similar operation, the US military had struck a submersible vessel on Thursday, in what was at least the sixth such attack since early September.
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Trump’s war against drug cartels
So far, at least 29 people have been killed in similar actions against vessels in the region by the US military.
The US 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 September 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.