U.S. Southern Command has released video showing Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) forces interdicting and destroying a floating refueling station allegedly supporting narco-trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific.
According to SOUTHCOM, U.S. forces boarded and cleared the vessel, removed the personnel aboard and transferred them to Ecuadorian authorities before sinking the vessel. Intelligence reportedly linked the refueling station to Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian criminal organization designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization.
This is the second operation of this type. JTF-WHEM conducted a similar interdiction on Aug. 28, when Marines and Sailors operating from USS San Antonio (LPD 17) boarded a suspected floating refueling station, removed those aboard, transferred them to Ecuador and then sank the vessel. The video released by SOUTHCOM today shows what appears to be the USS San Antonio operating nearby.
The latest operation is part of an increasingly active U.S.-Ecuadorian campaign targeting the maritime logistics network supporting drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
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1September 9, 2026 1.5K 4
