WASHINGTON — Two survivors of a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug ship in the Caribbean will be sent to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia, President Donald Trump said Saturday.
Troops rescued a couple after they hit a submarine on Thursday, at least the sixth such attack since early September.
“It was my great honor to destroy a very large drug submarine that was heading toward the United States along a well-known drug transit route,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “US intelligence has confirmed that this vessel was loaded primarily with fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”
The Republican president said two people on board were killed – one more than previously reported – and the two survivors were being sent to their home countries “for capture and prosecution.”
Repatriation avoids questions from the Trump administration about what the two's legal status would be in the US justice system.
With Trump confirming the death toll on his Truth Social platform, this means US military action against shipping in the region has resulted in at least 29 deaths.
The president justified the strikes by saying the United States was engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. It relies on the same legal powers that the George W. Bush administration enjoyed when it declared war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks, and treats suspected traffickers as if they were enemy soldiers in a traditional war.
Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.
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