US President Donald Trump on Sunday, October 19, announced that the authorities received a tip off about a ‘drug-carrying submarine’ approaching the United States through a narcotrafficking transit route. Suggesting that America will not tolerate narcoterrorists he claimed to have destroyed the illegal drug trafficking watercraft.
In a post on Truth Social, he stated, “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.”
Confirming that the US Intelligence unit received information about an illegal submarine, he said, “There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel.” The vessel, which was attempting to smuggle mainly Fentanyl and other illegal narcotics into the country was destroyed while it was on the narcotrafficking transit route.
‘25,000 Americans would die if….’
According to the post, two of the terrorists were killed. “At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore,” the 79-year-old asserted. The legal procedure to return the two surviving terrorists, who hail from Ecuador and Colombia, is ongoing.
Asserting that US will not tolerate narcoterrorism and terrorist activities related with it, he wrote, “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.”
With the post, Trump added a video of the semi-submersible vessel cruising through the waters. The video posted by the White House official account on X shows black-and-white footage of the strike. In the video clip, the vessel can be seen navigating through the rough waves with its front portion submerged below the surface.
As the vessel proceeds, a series of explosions strike it, one detonating over the vessel’s rear. The video ends with floating debris of the semi-submersible.
What is narcoterrorism?
According to US Department of Justice, the term narcoterrorism refers to the involvement of terrorist organisations and insurgent groups in drug trafficking. It has emerged as a significant issue with international implications.