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The United States carried out another strike on an alleged Colombian drug-running vessel, signaling a widening of U.S. military operations off South America, officials said Sunday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces attacked a vessel affiliated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army, or ELN, in international waters Friday. Three crew members were killed, he said. He did not specify the exact location of the strike. The U.S. Southern Command oversees operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The United States has had warships deployed in the Caribbean off Venezuela since August and has attacked at least six boats it said were smuggling drugs toward the United States, killing at least 27 people so far.
The military action came as President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States will cut off financial aid to Colombia and impose tariffs on the country. He said the tariff announcement would come on Monday.
“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. U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics. There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed. At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore,” the president posted to Truth Social.
“The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.
In separate remarks, Trump accused Petro of failing to curb cocaine production despite receiving “large scale payments and subsidies from the USA.”
“AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE” to Colombia, Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to the country as “Columbia.” He called Petro “an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs.”