US military forces operating near Ecuador have intercepted and destroyed several commercial vessels suspected of acting as floating refuelling stations for drug-smuggling boats bound for the United States.
The operation was the fourth such interdiction in the eastern Pacific, according to a US official. No one involved was killed or injured, the official said.
The mission was carried out by Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere in co-operation with the Ecuadorian government as part of a wider campaign by US Southern Command against narcotics trafficking in the Pacific and Atlantic.
US Southern Command said the latest vessel was intercepted in international waters on 3 September after intelligence indicated it was supporting Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian criminal organisation designated by Washington as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Sailors and Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS San Antonio boarded and searched the vessel before clearing it. Those found aboard were handed over to Ecuadorian authorities, after which US forces sank the craft.
Footage released by the command shows an 11-metre rigid-hull inflatable boat approaching a larger civilian vessel, with fuel containers arranged across an elevated open deck. A Marine Corps helicopter can be seen hovering nearby.
The video then shows the boarding party moving away before the larger vessel’s bow is engulfed in an explosion. The operation also involved helicopters launched from the USS San Antonio, which fired on and sank other accompanying boats, according to the US official.
Southern Command said the refuelling vessels formed part of the logistics network used to support maritime drug shipments. The campaign began in September 2025 and has since involved 68 attacks on suspected smuggling vessels, with 227 people killed, according to an analysis of the operations.
The latest action came days after US forces carried out similar operations against other suspected refuelling stations linked to Los Choneros, marking an escalation in efforts to disrupt the group’s supply routes at sea.
