WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Saturday that US forces destroyed a “drug-carrying” submarine en route to the United States along a known narcotrafficking corridor, marking the latest in a series of maritime operations targeting drug smuggling networks.

“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 on his Truth Social platform.

He said intelligence confirmed the vessel was loaded with “mostly fentanyl and other illegal narcotics,” and described the incident as a decisive strike against narcoterrorism.

“There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed,” Trump said, adding that no US personnel were harmed in the operation.
“At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore,” he added, noting that the two surviving suspects were being extradited to Ecuador and Colombia for prosecution.

“The United States will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea,” Trump said.

The operation is the latest in a series of at least six US military strikes carried out in the Caribbean Sea since last month, targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels operating in international waters off Venezuela’s coast.

Tensions between Washington and Caracas have heightened following the deployment of a US naval group to the southern Caribbean, a move the Trump administration says is part of a broader effort to combat organized crime and drug trafficking.

On Friday, when asked about reports that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had offered “everything in his country, all the natural resources” to de-escalate tensions—a claim Venezuela denied—Trump told reporters at the White House that Maduro “has offered everything.”

“Because he doesn’t want to f**k around with the United States,” Trump added.

Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is forming a joint task force under the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to intensify operations against transnational narcotics organizations. — Agencies