Survivors of Caribbean drug shipwreck/US considering deportation

2025-10-18 21:04:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Trump administration is considering deporting two of the survivors of Thursday's military raid on a suspected drug ship in the Caribbean to their home countries, two US officials told CNN.

Administration officials were scrambling Friday and Saturday morning to determine what to do with the individuals, who are the first survivors of six U.S. military attacks carried out in the Caribbean since September.

Thursday's attack was the sixth known attack on a ship suspected of being involved in drug trafficking.

It came as the US has deployed dozens of military assets to the Caribbean, while promising further attacks on suspected drug ships, part of the administration's efforts to reduce the flow of drugs into the US and put pressure on Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's authoritarian president.

President Donald Trump did not discuss the status of the detainees at the White House on Friday, but said: "Just so you understand this was not a group of innocent people."

The situation would potentially create a legal and political dilemma for the administration because it was unclear under what legal authority the U.S. military could hold the prisoners, Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer specializing in war powers issues, previously told CNN.

One of the sources told CNN that the legally dubious situation is why the administration is considering releasing individuals from US military custody.

The Trump administration has drafted a classified legal opinion on deadly strikes against a secret and extensive list of suspected drug cartels and traffickers, CNN reported. Historically, however, those involved in drug trafficking were considered full-fledged criminals, with the Coast Guard intervening on drug-trafficking vessels and arresting smugglers.

The Trump administration has also argued that the president has broad authority under Article II of the Constitution to carry out strikes against what it calls "narcoterrorists," but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have questioned that theory. Congress, which holds broad authority under Article I of the Constitution to declare war, has not authorized an armed conflict against drug traffickers./ CNA, translated by CNN