The Trump administration took out two more vessels used by narco-terrorists in the Caribbean to traffic drugs into the U.S.
The White House said on Saturday the administration recently destroyed a submarine allegedly carrying drugs along “a well-known narcotrafficking transit route.”
📹 DESTROYED: Confirmed DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE navigating towards the United States on a well-known narcotrafficking transit route.
"Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea." – President Trump pic.twitter.com/N4TAkgPHXN
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 18, 2025
President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that U.S. intelligence “confirmed” the submarine was trafficking fentanyl and other drugs. The strike killed two of four traffickers on board and the other two are being returned to their respective countries, Ecuador and Colombia, for prosecution.
“At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore,” the president said.
“No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea,” he added.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the administration last week also struck a vessel affiliated with the Colombian militant group Ejército de Liberación Nacional, killing three alleged traffickers.
“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics,” he said. “There were three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike—which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”
“These cartels are the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere, using violence, murder and terrorism to impose their will, threaten our national security and poison our people. The United States military will treat these organizations like the terrorists they are—they will be hunted, and killed, just like Al Qaeda,” he added.
On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.
The… pic.twitter.com/1v7oR879LC
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 19, 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed a fisherman was one of those killed in the strike, Fox News reported.
“The fisherman’s boat from Santa Marta was not from the ELN; it belonged to a humble family, lovers of the sea, from which they drew their food,” Petro said on social media. “What do you say to the family of Alejandro Carranza? He was a humble human being.”
La lancha del pescador de Santa Marta no era del ELN, era de una familia humilde, amante del mar y de ahí extraía sus alimentos.
Qué le dice usted a esa familia, explíqueme porque usted ayudó a asesinar un humilde pescador de Santa Marta, la tierra donde murió Bolívar, y de la… https://t.co/Dd9D1aEqGK
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 19, 2025
Trump responded in a Truth Social post, calling Petro “an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia.”
“It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America,” he added. “AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA.”
