U.S. forces operating near Ecuador on Saturday intercepted and destroyed several commercial vessels believed to be used for refueling boats smuggling drugs to the United States.
It was the fourth interdiction of vessels used as floating refueling platforms in the eastern Pacific, according to a U.S. official, who said no one on either side was hurt or killed.
The mission was carried out as part of U.S. Southern Command’s efforts to hinder narcotics smugglers in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, a campaign that began just over a year ago.
A video posted to social media by the command, which directs military operations in Central and South America, shows a U.S. military vessel, an 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat, approach what appears to be a larger civilian craft with fuel jugs lining a raised open deck. A Marine Corps helicopter hovered off the vessel’s starboard side.
The video shows the inflatable boat moving out of the frame, then shows the larger vessel’s bow erupting in an explosion.
People aboard the refueling vessel were transferred to the custody of Ecuadorean government officials, who were nearby as part of the operation, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the mission.
The operation was supported by sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious ship U.S.S. San Antonio, which launched helicopters that fired munitions into other accompanying vessels and sank them, the official said.
Southern Command, which is based in South Florida, said the refueling operation was run by Los Choneros, which the State Department designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” just days after the campaign against suspected smuggling vessels began on Sept. 2, 2025.
In that time, the U.S. military has launched 68 attacks on what it said were drug smuggling vessels in the region, killing 227 people, according to a New York Times analysis.
