The Trump administration plans to repatriate back to Ecuador and Colombia the two alleged drug traffickers who survived the U.S. military’s recent boat strike in the Caribbean.
President Trump announced on Saturday that the two survivors of the Thursday boat strike by U.S. forces, which killed two other “narcoterrorists,” will be transferred over to their countries of origin for “detention and prosecution.”
It is unclear if Ecuador and Colombia will prosecute the alleged narcoterrorists or if they will be released.
The transfer of the survivors comes after they were detained on Thursday, following the strike, and transferred to a Navy ship where they received medical treatment.
The four alleged drug traffickers were traveling in a semi-submersible that Trump said was heading to the U.S. on a “well-known narcotrafficking transit route” and that the vessel mostly had fentanyl, but also other 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 president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics.”
Trump said that no U.S. forces were injured in the operation and claimed that 25,000 Americans would have died if the submersible reached the U.S. shore.
“Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea,” Trump said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The Thursday strike appears to be the first one since the U.S. began striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea that had survivors. It was the sixth strike since early September.
The first five strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela have killed 27 people, according to the administration.
The administration has ramped up its military presence in the Caribbean and turned up the pressure against Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro, whom the administration deems an “illegitimate” leader.
On Thursday, a Pentagon official said that there are around 10,000 U.S. forces supporting counternarcotics operations in the region.
Trump seemingly confirmed on Wednesday that he authorized the CIA to conduct operations in Venezuela.
The president dropped an f-bomb on Friday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House, warning Maduro not to engage in a conflict with the U.S.
“He doesn’t want to f‑‑‑ with the U.S.,” Trump told reporters.
On Thursday, the same day as the latest strike, the Defense Department (DOD) announced that four-star Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, who is the commander of U.S. Southern Command, which oversees Central and South American military operations, will retire from the Navy on Dec. 12, less than a year into his post.
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