Trump says US destroyed 'drug-carrying' submarine

President Donald Trump has said the US forces destroyed a "drug-carrying" submarine that was travelling toward the US on a "well-known narcotrafficking route".

"It was my great honour to destroy a very large drug-carrying submarine that was navigating towards the United States on a well-known narcotrafficking transit route," Trump said on Truth Social on Saturday.

Trump said the US intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with "mostly fentanyl and other illegal narcotics".

"There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed," he said, adding no US forces were harmed during the strike.

"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," he said.

The US "will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea," Trump added.

Since last month, the US has carried out at least six strikes in the Caribbean Sea against vessels allegedly carrying illegal drugs recently conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela.

Tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have recently escalated after the US deployed a naval group to the southern Caribbean. The US claims the force is there to combat criminal cartels and drug trafficking.

On Friday, when asked about reports that Maduro offered “everything in his country, all the natural resources” to ease tensions with the US, a claim denied by Venezuela.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced last week that his department is forming a joint task force operating in the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility to target drug trafficking organisations.

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Source: TRT