WASHINGTON D.C., October 19, 2025 (ANI/AP): U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the U.S. military destroyed a large, suspected “drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean, claiming the operation prevented a mass casualty event that would have killed “at least 25,000 Americans.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Trump confirmed the military strike on the vessel, which he described as a “very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route.”
Fentanyl Cargo and Death Toll:
The President stated that U.S. intelligence confirmed the vessel was “loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics.”
Trump’s claim that 25,000 American lives were saved is based on an estimation of the deadly potential of the narcotics cargo had it reached U.S. shores.
The President reported that there were four individuals, described as “narcoterrorists,” aboard the vessel. Two were killed during the strike, and the two survivors were rescued by U.S. forces.
The two surviving individuals are reportedly being returned to their home countries, Ecuador and Colombia, for “detention and prosecution.”
“At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore,” Trump 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.”
A brief, black-and-white video of the strike, which appeared to show a vessel being hit by multiple explosions, was later shared on social media by the Pentagon.
The strike on the semi-submersible vessel is the latest in a series of highly publicized military actions ordered by the Trump administration against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, which the administration has justified as a necessary escalation in the fight against drug cartels.
Trump Claims Sinking ‘Drug-Carrying Submarine’ Saved 25,000 American Lives.
