President Donald Trump announced Saturday that a U.S. military operation in the Caribbean this week destroyed a \u201cvery large drug-carrying submarine,\u201d killing two suspected narco-terrorists and capturing two others.<\/p>\n
Trump, who also ordered the release of video footage of the strike, said a statementposted to Truth Social that the vessel was carrying mostly \u201cfentanyl and other narcotics\u201d toward the U.S. on a \u201cwell known narcotrafficking transit route.\u201d<\/p>\n
He claimed the interdiction prevented as many as 25,000 American overdose deaths. \u201cNo 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Fox News previously reported that two survivors were rescued by the U.S. Navy following the strike and were being held aboard an American warship. Trump\u2019s statement marked the first official confirmation of their identities and nationalities.<\/p>\n
The incident was the sixth U.S. interdiction of a suspected drug-smuggling vessel since combat operations began in the Caribbean last month. The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed the name of the operation.<\/p>\n
Trump first mentioned the strike publicly during a meeting Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking separately on Friday, did not dispute reports of survivors from the strike but said additional details would be released at a later time, Fox News reported.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Trump confirmed he had authorized CIA operations in the region. On Thursday, U.S. Air Force B-52s conducted a visible \u201cshow of force\u201d mission near Venezuelan waters.<\/p>\n
Fentanyl \u2014 much of it manufactured in Mexico using ingredients supplied by China \u2014 has been a scourge on the U.S. for years.<\/p>\n
In May 2023, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced an amendment that would require the death penalty for anyone caught smuggling the illicit drug across the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n
\u201c300 Americans are murdered each day by fentanyl. It\u2019s the leading killer of young people, 18-34, in America. Today, I introduced an amendment to H.R. 467 to give the death penalty to criminals who intentionally or knowingly import fentanyl across our Southern border,\u201d she tweeted at the time.<\/p>\n
Greene\u2019s amendment comes as several Republican lawmakers have pushed for new legislation to enforce tougher penalties to crack down on the fentanyl crisis.<\/p>\n
As the border crisis worsened during the Biden presidency, some Republicans suggested life sentences for anyone convicted of trafficking fentanyl or the death penalty for those convicted of selling or distributing the harmful and deadly drug.<\/p>\n
Previously, Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar introduced The Death Penalty for Dealing Fentanyl Act of 2022, which would punish those convicted of selling or distributing fentanyl with the death penalty or life in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of reducing prison sentences for drug offenders, it is long past time that those responsible for manufacturing or knowingly distributing fentanyl pay a heavy price,\u201d Gosar said. \u201cWe must get tough on those criminals that are contributing to this drug crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the many deeply troubling consequences of Joe Biden\u2019s open border policies is the deadly flow of fentanyl across the southern border. Since Biden assumed office in January 2021, more than 1,000,000 pounds of illegal drugs have been seized, including 7,700 pounds of fentanyl in just the first five months of 2022. The overwhelming majority of fentanyl is smuggled across the border from Mexico,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
He added in a press release: \u201cMore Americans have died in the last 23 years of drug poisoning than in all combat losses combined since 1775. Instead of reducing prison sentences for drug offenders, it is long past time that those who are responsible for manufacturing or knowingly distributing fentanyl pay a heavy price.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that a U.S. military operation in the Caribbean this week destroyed a \u201cvery large drug-carrying submarine,\u201d killing two suspected narco-terrorists and capturing two others. Trump, who also ordered the release of video footage of the strike, said a statementposted to Truth Social that the vessel was carrying mostly \u201cfentanyl and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-daily-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8586,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8584\/revisions\/8586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}