US Forces Sink Floating Refueling Station Used by Drug Traffickers

The U.S. military has intercepted and sunk a floating refueling station that supported drug trafficking operations in the Eastern Pacific region.

The interdiction was carried out on Monday by the Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) at the direction of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). Multiple individuals were disembarked from the vessel and will be handed over to Ecuadorian authorities, SOUTHCOM said in a Sept. 7 post on X.

“After clearing the vessel and disembarking the crew, U.S. forces sank it,” SOUTHCOM said.

Citing intelligence reports, SOUTHCOM said that the vessel was involved with violent narco-terrorist organization Los Choneros.

Los Choneros was designated a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist last year, according to the Department of State. The group has ties with the Sinaloa and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.

In a Sept. 5 statement, SOUTHCOM announced interdicting a multi-vessel floating refueling station in the Eastern Pacific that was supporting Los Choneros’s operations.

Another Los Choneros-linked floating refueling station was struck down in late August.

At the time, SOUTHCOM said the interdiction cut off a “critical node” from the logistics chain managed by narcotics traffickers, advancing the goal of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition.

“Today’s operation is a stark example of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition’s power to dismantle the sophisticated, clandestine narco-terrorist tactics and capabilities that have enabled the trafficking of dangerous drugs destined for American communities,” SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said.

The Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, also known as the Shield of the Americas, was established by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The coalition includes 19 nations from the Western Hemisphere that have committed to using hard power to tackle transnational gangs and cartels.

Maritime Drug Strikes

This month marked the first anniversary of Operation Southern Spear, under which military strikes have been carried out against suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) criticized the operation, alleging that the American people have yet to see any evidence to support President Donald Trump’s “unilateral determinations” that these vessels warranted the use of lethal military action, according to a Sept. 2 statement from the House Armed Services Committee.

“It remains unclear whether these operations have made any real difference in stopping illegal drugs from reaching the United States,” Smith said.

A U.S. official told The Epoch Times on Sept. 1 that 70 vessels have been destroyed in the first year of Operation Southern Spear, with 227 narco-terrorists killed in these strikes.

According to U.S. officials, the counter-narcotics operations carried out by SOUTHCOM in the past year have led to record reductions in illegal maritime activity, including a 65 percent decline in the Western Caribbean, a 60 percent dip in the Eastern Caribbean, and an almost 50 percent decrease in certain key regions in the Eastern Pacific.

“Those numbers matter because every disputed route, every denied corridor, and every degraded network makes it harder, makes it more expensive, and more dangerous for narco-terrorists to move their poison towards the United States of America,” a U.S. official said.

Timothy Frudd contributed to this report.