U.S. forces operating with Ecuadorian authorities intercepted a floating refueling station in the Eastern Pacific on Sept. 16, removed its occupants and sank the vessel after U.S. Southern Command said intelligence connected it to the Los Choneros trafficking organization.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
U.S. forces sank a vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Wednesday after intercepting what U.S. Southern Command described as a floating refueling station supporting maritime drug-trafficking operations, marking the second such interdiction involving the Los Choneros organization in two days.
Footage released by U.S. Southern Command shows U.S. personnel boarding and clearing the vessel before it was destroyed.
SOUTHCOM said Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out the operation under its direction Sept. 16 and that intelligence identified the vessel as part of a logistics network supporting illicit drug movements at sea.
“On Sept. 16, under the direction of #SOUTHCOM, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) forces successfully interdicted a floating refueling station supporting illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel’s involvement with the Los Choneros violent narco-terrorist organization. Individuals removed from the vessel have been transferred to Ecuadorian authorities. After clearing the vessel and disembarking the crew, U.S. forces sank it. JTF-WHEM continues to conduct precise and professional operations to dismantle the logistical networks fueling narco-trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
“Alongside our Ecuadorian partners, we are relentlessly pursuing narco-terrorists who prey on our citizens, undermine hemispheric security, and leave death and suffering in their wake. This deliberate, lawful, and precise operation saves lives and makes our citizens—from Ecuador to the United States—safer,” SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said.
The operation targeted infrastructure used to keep drug-trafficking vessels supplied while operating far from shore. Rather than carrying narcotics itself, the intercepted vessel was described by SOUTHCOM as a floating fuel source supporting trafficking routes through the Eastern Pacific.
Those aboard the vessel were removed before U.S. forces sank it, and the individuals were subsequently transferred to Ecuadorian authorities, according to the command.
The Sept. 16 operation followed another interdiction one day earlier involving a separate refueling station that SOUTHCOM also linked to Los Choneros.
Donovan said Tuesday that the campaign is intended to disrupt the organization’s broader logistical and financial networks rather than focus solely on individual drug shipments.
“We are exerting unrelenting pressure on these narco-terrorists and hurting them where it counts: dismantling their intricate networks, disrupting their sophisticated logistics, and dealing a blow to their finances. This is what total systemic friction looks like,” Donovan said.
The consecutive operations reflect SOUTHCOM’s focus on the support network behind maritime trafficking, including vessels used to refuel other boats operating in the Eastern Pacific, while coordinating with Ecuadorian authorities on the disposition of people removed during the interdictions.
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