US Military Sinks Los Choneros Support Vessel, Detaining Multiple People in Eastern Pacific
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 3
US Military Sinks Los Choneros Support Vessel, Detaining Multiple People in Eastern Pacific
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 3
Summary
U.S. forces on Sept. 2 boarded and sank a vessel in the Eastern Pacific after removing multiple people and handing them to Ecuadorian authorities, according to Southern Command.
SOUTHCOM said the craft was operating as a floating refueling station for Los Choneros, making it a key logistics node for at-sea drug trafficking in international waters.
Marines and sailors from the USS San Antonio interdicted, searched and cleared the vessel without incident in an operation coordinated with Ecuador under Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere.
The strike fits a broader Trump administration campaign against cartel-linked maritime networks; SOUTHCOM says it has carried out dozens of actions in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean.
That campaign has produced 68 reported strikes and at least 227 deaths over roughly a year, including a Caribbean operation last week that the military said killed four alleged narco-terrorists.