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U.S. repatriates survivors of submarine drug bust

Agence France-Presse · Oct 19, 2025, 8:41 AM

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. Incoming US president Donald Trump on December 21, 2024 slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington. Jim WATSON / AFP



The United States is repatriating two suspected drug traffickers to Ecuador and Colombia after a military strike destroyed a "drug-carrying submarine" in the Caribbean, President Donald Trump said Saturday.

Two others were killed in the operation, which Trump described as part of an ongoing campaign to disrupt narcotics routes to the U.S.

Trump claimed the vessel was loaded with fentanyl and other drugs. Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed the return of the Colombian suspect and said he would face prosecution.

The U.S. has carried out at least six similar strikes since September, though critics question the legality and lack of evidence linking the deceased to drug trafficking.