U.S. Southern Command said American forces intercepted and sank a vessel serving as a floating refueling station for an Ecuadorian narco-terrorist organization, marking the fifth such operation against Los Choneros in two months.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
U.S. forces intercepted and sank a vessel in the Eastern Pacific that was allegedly being used as a floating refueling station for drug-trafficking operations tied to Ecuador’s Los Choneros criminal organization, U.S. Southern Command announced Monday.
SOUTHCOM said intelligence had confirmed the vessel’s involvement with Los Choneros, which the United States designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization last year. The operation was carried out by Joint Task Force – Western Hemisphere, or JTF-WHEM.
SOUTHCOM described the ship as a “floating refueling station supporting illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific.”
“Individuals removed from the vessel will be transferred to Ecuadorian authorities. After clearing the vessel and disembarking the crew, U.S. forces sank it,” SOUTHCOM said.
Monday’s operation was the fifth interception of a Los Choneros refueling vessel by the U.S. military in the Eastern Pacific during the past two months, as American forces increasingly target the logistical networks used to sustain narcotics trafficking at sea.
JTF-WHEM is a newly created command activated by SOUTHCOM in August 2026. SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan established the task force to “counter threats, strengthen regional security, and respond rapidly to crises across the Western Hemisphere.”
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin Jarrard was selected as the task force’s first commander. Before taking the assignment, Jarrard led U.S. military disaster-relief operations following the June 2026 earthquake in Venezuela.
The task force grew out of Operation Southern Spear, a maritime drug-interdiction campaign that began in January 2025 before being expanded into a joint task force operation in November of that year. JTF-WHEM was conceived as a broader multinational successor capable of conducting operations across the Western Hemisphere.
Los Choneros originated in the Ecuadorian town of Chone in Manabi province during the 1990s and initially operated as a local criminal gang. After senior members were imprisoned during a 2011 crackdown, the organization expanded by recruiting smaller gangs from inside prison and developing a wider transnational criminal network, according to an organized crime profile.
The group became known for extreme violence against rivals as well as internal power struggles following the deaths or arrests of senior leaders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Los Choneros a Foreign Terrorist Organization in September 2025 alongside another Ecuadorian gang, Los Lobos.
Rubio said the organizations sought to “control drug trafficking routes through Ecuador by terrorizing and inflicting brutal violence on the Ecuadorian people.”
Los Choneros has also expanded its reach through partnerships with larger international narcotics organizations. The group has been described as a logistical partner of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, helping support drug-trafficking routes through Ecuador and the Eastern Pacific.
U.S. officials have increasingly focused on maritime support vessels as part of efforts to disrupt those routes. Refueling ships allow trafficking vessels to remain at sea longer and travel farther without returning to shore, making them an important part of the logistics network behind long-distance narcotics shipments.
“We are taking decisive action to dismantle and destroy sophisticated logistics networks used by narco-terrorists to traffic drugs and spread violence throughout the Western Hemisphere,” Donovan said last week.
Monday’s seizure and destruction of the vessel represents the latest step in that campaign, with SOUTHCOM targeting not only suspected narcotics shipments but also the infrastructure used to keep trafficking operations moving across the Eastern Pacific.
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