Next Story
Newszop

Caribbean drug boat strike: Trump weighs sending survivors home; officials deliberating move

Send Push
The Trump administration is considering sending home two survivors of Thursday’s US military strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, officials told CNN.

Officials spent Friday and Saturday morning deciding what to do with the men, the first known survivors from six US military strikes in the region since September.

The survivors were taken into US military custody after the strike, marking the first time the Trump administration’s anti-drug operations have led to prisoners being held.

On Thursday, US forces struck a suspected drug-carrying submarine, leaving several people alive. “We attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” Trump said on Friday.

There is a significant US military presence in the Caribbean, which Washington says targets drug cartels linked to Venezuela. Earlier this week, B-52 bombers circled the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, while seven US Navy ships have been deployed as part of counter-narcotics operations. The build-up has raised fears in Caracas that the US may be seeking regime change.
Loving Newspoint? Download the app now