US military sinks alleged drug-trafficking 'floating refueling station': SOUTHCOM
SOUTHCOM said 14 people were removed before the vessel was destroyed, part of a broader U.S. campaign against alleged narco-terrorist boats.
- On Friday, U.S. forces boarded and sank a vessel in the Eastern Pacific that U.S. Southern Command identified as a floating refueling station for the Los Choneros drug-trafficking organization.
- Intelligence linked the vessel to Los Choneros, a group the U.S. designated a violent narco-terrorist organization last year; the Department of the Treasury previously targeted the ship to dismantle the group's logistics chain.
- SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said the coalition operation with Ecuador "fractured a primary artery" of the logistics chain supporting the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition effort.
- This strike follows a broader Trump administration campaign targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists," resulting in at least 227 deaths across 68 operations; legal experts have questioned the legality of these lethal orders.
- Ecuador's strategic location between Colombia and Peru makes it a critical transit hub for Los Choneros, which has battled authorities for years following leader José Adolfo Macías Villamar's 2024 jail escape.
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70 Articles
US Forces Board, Blow Up Alleged Drug-Linked Boat Off Coast of Ecuador
On August 28, US forces boarded a boat off the coast of Ecuador, removed the crew, and then blew up the vessel to sink it, according to a press release from US Southern Command and testimony from the Ecuadorian crew members, as the US continues expanding its military campaign across…
Ecuadornews: The Southern Command of the United States confirmed in an official communiqué that it carried out, “in coordination and collaboration with the government of Ecuador”, a new operation in the Pacific with the amphibious vessel San Antonio, last Friday, to inspect a fishing boat, destroyed after evacuating its occupants who were then transferred to a port as detainees, under the suspicion of collaborating with drug cartels, despite tes…
DRUG OPERATION: U.S., Ecuador Forces Intercept And Sink Vessel Linked To Los Choneros Narco-Terrorists
U.S. and Ecuadorian forces intercepted a vessel in international waters in the Eastern Pacific that authorities say was being used as a floating refueling station for drug trafficking and was linked to the Los Choneros narco-terrorist group. U.S. Marines and sailors from the USS San Antonio boarded and searched the vessel without incident, escorted those […]
The Epoch Times
US Forces Sink Vessel Providing At-Sea Refueling for Cartel: SOUTHCOM
A vessel suspected of providing at-sea refueling for drug traffickers burns after being targeted by U.S. forces on Aug. 28, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command)
Clarin
RPPThe U.S. Southern Command and Ecuador sank a ship used to resupply boats from a well-known criminal organization in international waters.The operation, part of the fight against drug trafficking, impacted the logistics of criminal groups, showing continued collaboration between the two countries.
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