The military said the ship served as a floating refueling station for an Ecuadorian crime syndicate
The US military has released what it said was video of commandos intercepting and blowing up a vessel involved in the drug trade in the Eastern Pacific.
The video, published by US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on Tuesday, shows a vessel that the military described as a floating refueling station operated in support of the “narco-terrorist” Los Choneros syndicate.
Commandos approached the vessel in a speedboat, boarded it and removed the crew. US forces sank the vessel after disembarking. The crew members were transferred to Ecuadorian authorities, SOUTHCOM said.
“We are exerting unrelenting pressure on these narco-terrorists and hurting them where it counts,” SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis Donovan said.
On Sept. 15, under the direction of #SOUTHCOM, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) forces successfully interdicted a floating refueling station supporting illicit at-sea drug trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific.
Intelligence confirmed the vessel’s… pic.twitter.com/LEADvwvH9b
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) September 15, 2026
After returning to office in 2025, US President Donald Trump ordered a crackdown on drug cartels, accusing the governments of Colombia and Venezuela of helping to “flood” the American market with drugs. Nearly 230 people have been killed in US strikes on alleged drug boats.
Critics in the US and abroad have described the operations as extrajudicial killings and potential war crimes. Officials in Colombia and Venezuela have claimed that some of those killed were ordinary fishermen.
The boat strikes have failed to reduce the amount of cocaine entering the United States and have instead prompted cartels to adapt their tactics in ways that undermine traditional investigative methods, the Washington Post reported in July, citing an internal assessment by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
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