Trump Announces Return of Survivors from Suspected Drug Vessel to Ecuador and Colombia

In a recent development, President Donald Trump announced that the two individuals who survived an American military operation targeting a suspected drug-laden vessel in the Caribbean will be sent back to their respective home countries, Ecuador and Colombia. This announcement was made on Saturday following the military’s successful strike on Thursday.

The operation involved the destruction of a submersible vessel, marking at least the sixth such intervention since the beginning of September. These vessels are often used to transport illegal narcotics through well-known trafficking routes toward the United States.

President Trump took to social media to express his satisfaction with the mission’s outcome, 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 further highlighted that U.S. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was primarily carrying fentanyl and other illegal drugs.

Following the president’s announcement, the Pentagon released a brief video on the platform X, showcasing the strike. The black-and-white footage revealed a vessel gliding through the water with its front just beneath the waves, followed by a series of explosions, including one prominently impacting the rear of the vessel.

The strike resulted in the death of two individuals on board, which was one more than initially reported. The surviving pair will be returned to Ecuador and Colombia, where they will face detention and prosecution, as confirmed by President Trump.

With Trump’s confirmation on his Truth Social platform of the death toll, that means U.S. military action against vessels in the region have killed at least 29 people.

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.

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Megerian reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.