The United States will repatriate the two survivors of a military strike on a semi-submersible vessel in the Caribbean, sending them to their home countries — Colombia and Ecuador — for detention and prosecution, US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday.
The operation, first reported by Reuters, allows the US military to avoid complex legal challenges tied to detaining suspected drug traffickers, whose actions fall outside traditional laws of war, according to legal experts.
“The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Survivors Returned Home
Authorities in both South American nations confirmed that the survivors had arrived home.
“We have received the Colombian detained on the narco submarine. We are happy he is alive and he will be processed according to the law,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro on X (formerly Twitter).
An Ecuadorean survivor also returned home around 11 a.m. local time, a government source told Reuters, and will be legally processed in Ecuador.
US Strike and Rescue Operation
The US military launched a helicopter rescue mission on Thursday after striking the semi-submersible “narco-sub”, which was suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics. Two of the four crew members were killed in the attack.
Following the rescue, the survivors were airlifted to a US Navy warship operating in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump claimed that US intelligence had confirmed the vessel was “loaded with mostly fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.” He also posted a 30-second video appearing to show the submarine being hit by a projectile.
“It was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
Regional and Legal Fallout
The Trump administration has conducted multiple similar strikes in recent months, reportedly resulting in 27 deaths — actions that have raised concerns among legal experts and Democratic lawmakers about compliance with international law.
The latest operation comes amid a US military buildup in the Caribbean, involving guided missile destroyers, F-35 jets, a nuclear submarine, and 6,500 troops, as Washington escalates its standoff with Venezuela.
Earlier this week, Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela, intensifying speculation that Washington is seeking to oust President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro has denied involvement in drug trafficking and condemned the US strikes as a pretext for regime change, calling them violations of sovereignty and international law.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada urged the body to declare the US strikes illegal and to issue a statement affirming Venezuela’s sovereignty.
