The US Navy successfully rescued and detained two survivors on Friday following a military strike on a semi-submersible vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea, according to US officials. However, their fate remains uncertain.The pair is being held aboard a Navy warship in international waters, marking the first time the military has found itself holding prisoners as part of US President Donald Trump’s campaign targeting suspected drug traffickers.The latest strike took place on Thursday, followed by several recent attacks on vessels the MAGA administration claimed were transporting drugs. The semi-submersible was targeted after the first five strikes, which involved speedboats, killing 27 people. Officials said the Thursday attack killed 2 people, but surveillance footage showed survivors in the water. A Navy helicopter retrieved the two survivors and transferred them to one of the eight warships deployed to the region. Trump confirmed the strike during a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “We attacked a submarine and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs. Just so you understand, this was not an innocent group of people. I don’t know too many people that have submarines.” He did not comment on the fate of the survivors.
What to do with the survivors?
The administration now faces a complex legal dilemma. Officials must decide whether to release the survivors, claim the right to hold them indefinitely as wartime detainees, or transfer them to civilian law enforcement for prosecution. The administration will have to determine how long the prisoners can remain on the Navy vessel before being transferred somewhere else. The Trump administration has labelled suspected drug traffickers as “unlawful combatants” in a formal armed conflict against drug cartels. Congress has not authorised a state of war, and experts question whether trafficking in illegal drugs constitutes grounds for military action. If the detainees are sent to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, lawyers could file habeas corpus petitions challenging the legal basis for holding them. Keeping the two survivors in military custody would require allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross to see them. Military courts at Guantánamo can only try members of Al Qaeda and its affiliates, not drug cartel suspects. The administration could instead hand the survivors over to civilian authorities for prosecution. However, evidence may have been destroyed during the strike, making it hard to use in court. Getting confessions through questioning could help, but it would raise legal issues, including the right to a lawyer.
Trump’s crackdown on drug cartels
Since early September, the Trump administration has stepped up military operations in the Caribbean, targeting suspected drug smugglers amid growing pressure on Venezuela’s government. The recent strikes, including Thursday’s attack on a semi-submersible, reflect a highly controversial approach that blurs the line between law enforcement and military action in the region.