The U.S. military intercepted and sank a vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Sept. 2 that U.S. Southern Command said was supporting the Los Choneros narco-terrorist organization.
SOUTHCOM said the action was taken at the direction of SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan and in coordination with the government of Ecuador. Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, the command said, interdicted a vessel operating as a floating refueling station in international waters and said intelligence confirmed it was supporting Los Choneros, which SOUTHCOM described as a violent narco-terrorist organization.
U.S. Marines and sailors from the USS San Antonio interdicted, boarded, searched and cleared the vessel “without incident,” SOUTHCOM said. Multiple individuals were removed from the craft and transferred to Ecuadorian authorities, the command said. After the people were removed, U.S. forces sank the vessel, SOUTHCOM added.
“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 in a statement. He added that the operation “demonstrated the elite capabilities and precision of Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, which is on watch in the region to apply total systemic friction on these networks.”
SOUTHCOM said the operation cuts off a “critical node” in illicit trafficking and was conducted in support of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition and JTF-WHEM’s mission to dismantle narco-terrorist networks. SOUTHCOM released video of the interception, and Ecuador’s Ministry of National Defense shared footage on social media. The action comes amid a monthslong campaign the Trump administration launched to target cartel-linked trafficking networks; SOUTHCOM has said it has carried out dozens of strikes in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. Last week the military said a strike in the Caribbean killed four alleged “narco-terrorists,” and, according to Fox News Digital, the campaign has resulted in at least 227 deaths across 68 reported strikes over roughly one year.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
