U.S. Southern Command said American forces destroyed a go-fast vessel traveling an established Caribbean drug-trafficking route Saturday, killing four people the military identified as narco-terrorists as operations against maritime trafficking networks continue across the region.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

U.S. military forces carried out a lethal strike against a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean on Saturday, killing four people aboard the boat, according to U.S. Southern Command.

Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere conducted the Sept. 19 operation under SOUTHCOM’s direction after intelligence identified the go-fast vessel as actively involved in narcotics trafficking, the command said. SOUTHCOM released footage of the operation showing the vessel traveling across open water before being struck and engulfed by an explosion.

“On September 19, under the direction of #SOUTHCOM, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere executed a lethal, kinetic strike on a go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean.

“Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel’s active involvement in narco-trafficking. The operation killed four narco-terrorists.”

SOUTHCOM did not publicly identify the four people killed or specify the precise location of the strike. The military’s public description characterized all four as “narco-terrorists” and said intelligence had confirmed the vessel’s involvement in trafficking.

The strike is the latest action involving Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere as U.S. forces target maritime networks the military says are used to move illegal drugs through the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

The operational footage shows the small craft moving at speed before the strike. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service separately identified the material as a seven-second SOUTHCOM video dated Sept. 19.

Saturday’s Caribbean operation follows a succession of U.S. military interdictions against suspected drug-trafficking infrastructure elsewhere in the region.

Earlier this month, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere intercepted a floating refueling station in the Eastern Pacific that SOUTHCOM said was supporting illicit at-sea drug trafficking.

The military said intelligence connected that vessel with Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian criminal organization that U.S. authorities describe as a violent narco-terrorist group. Personnel aboard the vessel were removed and transferred to Ecuadorian authorities before U.S. forces sank the craft.

SOUTHCOM has conducted additional operations against similar maritime logistics networks.

In another interdiction, American forces targeted a multi-vessel floating refueling station in the Eastern Pacific that the command said was operating in support of Los Choneros. Personnel were removed from the main vessel and turned over to Ecuador before U.S. forces sank the primary vessel and attached support craft.

“Individuals removed from the main vessel have been transferred to Ecuadorian authorities. Once the main vessel was cleared and the crew disembarked, U.S. forces sank it and the attached support vessels,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.

Other SOUTHCOM releases during September documented further interdictions of floating refueling vessels that military officials said were associated with Los Choneros. In those operations, U.S. forces boarded and cleared vessels, removed their crews for transfer to Ecuadorian authorities and sank the vessels after completing the interdictions.

The strategy targets more than boats carrying drugs directly.

Floating refueling stations can extend the range of trafficking vessels by supplying fuel at sea, allowing smugglers to remain away from ports while moving narcotics across longer maritime routes. By targeting those support vessels, SOUTHCOM says it is attempting to disrupt the logistical infrastructure that enables trafficking operations rather than focusing solely on individual drug shipments.

A Sept. 3 interdiction in international waters of the Eastern Pacific involved U.S. forces launched from the USS San Antonio. SOUTHCOM said Littoral Combat Force 24 personnel boarded, searched and cleared a suspected refueling vessel without incident before transferring those aboard for delivery to Ecuador and sinking the vessel. The military described the operation as eliminating a logistical node used by traffickers.

A similar Sept. 2 operation involved Marines and sailors deploying from the USS San Antonio to intercept another suspected floating refueling station tied by U.S. intelligence to Los Choneros. That vessel was also searched and cleared before it was sunk.

The Sept. 19 operation differed from those earlier interdictions because SOUTHCOM described it as a lethal kinetic strike rather than a boarding followed by seizure and destruction.

The command said four people aboard the Caribbean vessel were killed. It did not announce any U.S. casualties in connection with the strike.

SOUTHCOM’s public statement did not identify which trafficking organization was allegedly operating the go-fast vessel, what drugs it was believed to be carrying, whether narcotics were recovered or what intelligence led the military to conclude the boat was actively engaged in trafficking.

The command nevertheless said intelligence had confirmed the vessel’s role before the strike.

The action extends an increasingly aggressive U.S. military campaign against maritime narcotics networks in the Western Hemisphere, with Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere conducting both direct strikes and nonlethal interdictions against vessels and supporting infrastructure.

In the Eastern Pacific operations, U.S. forces generally removed people from suspected trafficking-support vessels before destroying the boats and transferring those detained to Ecuador. In Saturday’s Caribbean operation, the military instead destroyed the targeted go-fast vessel in a strike that killed all four people SOUTHCOM said were involved in the trafficking operation.

The Sept. 19 strike therefore marks the latest phase of a campaign that has expanded from seizing and destroying suspected offshore support infrastructure to using lethal military force against vessels SOUTHCOM says intelligence has confirmed are actively participating in narcotics trafficking.

Original article