🕒 Created · Updated

U.S. Military Sinks Drug-Trafficking Refueling Vessel in Coordinated Operation with Ecuador

The U.S. military, in coordination with Ecuadorian officials, successfully boarded and sank a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean that served as a floating refueling station for drug-trafficking boats. The operation, conducted by Marines and sailors from the USS San Antonio, targeted a ship used by the Los Choneros organization, a prominent narco-terrorist group. The vessel was cleared without incident, and the crew was transported to Ecuador before the U.S. used an airstrike to scuttle the ship. Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan of U.S. Southern Command described the strike as a decisive blow to the logistics networks of narco-terrorists in the Western Hemisphere. This operation is part of a broader campaign by the administration to target alleged drug traffickers with lethal strikes. While the administration has justified these actions by defining smugglers as "narcoterrorists," some legal experts have criticized the strikes as extrajudicial killings. Despite these criticisms, the administration maintains that the strikes are lawful and serve to dismantle the sophisticated tactics of cartels moving drugs into American communities.

Sources