Two surviving “narcoterrorist” crew members of the vessel were captured, according to the US president
US President Donald Trump has shared a video of the US Navy striking what he called a submarine in the Caribbean that was allegedly smuggling a large amount of illicit drugs.
Trump released the unclassified footage of the strike on his Truth Social feed on Saturday, shortly after the destruction of the vessel was announced.
The US president described the vessel as a “very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE,” which was “loaded up with mostly fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.”
Footage released by Trump shows the vessel, which was travelling deck awash – meaning the deck is level with or just covered by the surface of the water – sustaining at least two hits. After the strike, the submarine apparently lost power and began to sink.
“There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. 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,” Trump wrote.
The US military has struck at least five surface vessels since September, claiming the boats were being used for drug smuggling by cartels allegedly based in Venezuela. The destruction of the submarine, however, was the first incident in which survivors were captured.
Washington has repeatedly accused Venezuela of aiding “narcoterrorists” and has put sweeping sanctions on the country. It also recently raised the bounty for information leading to the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million.
Trump confirmed earlier that he had authorized covert CIA operations on Venezuelan soil but declined to say whether the ultimate goal was to topple or outright eliminate the country’s left-wing leader.
Maduro has repeatedly denied having any ties to cartels, accusing Washington of seeking to topple him. The Venezuelan government has vowed to repel any invasion, putting its troops on high alert in the wake of the ongoing US military activities in the eastern Caribbean.
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