2 survivors of suspected drug vessel will be sent to home countries, Trump says

"The military rescued the pair after striking a submersible vessel Thursday, in what was at least the sixth such attack since early September. "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," Trump said in a social media post. "U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics.""

"The Republican president said two people onboard were killed one more than was previously reported and the two who survived are being sent to their home countries "for detention and prosecution." 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. 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 is treating the suspected traffickers as if they were enemy soldiers in a traditional war."

Two survivors of a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug-carrying submersible will be repatriated to Ecuador and Colombia for detention and prosecution. The military rescued the pair after striking the submersible Thursday, marking at least the sixth such attack since early September. U.S. intelligence assessed that the vessel was loaded primarily with fentanyl and other illegal narcotics. Two people onboard were killed, one more than initially reported, bringing total deaths from such military actions to at least 29. The strikes have been justified by asserting an "armed conflict" with drug cartels and by invoking post-Sept. 11 legal authority to treat traffickers as combatants.

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