U.S. sinks second "floating refueling station" used by alleged drug traffickers
The United States military intercepted and sank a vessel that was allegedly being used to support at-sea drug trafficking by the Ecuadorian criminal organization Los Choneros, officials said on Wednesday.
It came after a similar operation on Friday that destroyed another vessel linked to the gang, one of Ecuador's main drug trafficking and extortion groups.
The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a social media post that its forces intercepted a vessel "operating as a floating refueling station" in support of Los Choneros in international waters of the eastern Pacific.
The vessel was cleared without incident and those on board were transferred to Ecuador's authorities, SOUTHCOM said.
Grainy video footage accompanying the post showed armed men boarding a boat, which was later blown up.
"This interdiction cuts off a critical node in the traffickers' logistics chain," SOUTHCOM chief Gen. Francis Donovan said in the post. " ... We are taking decisive action to dismantle and destroy sophisticated logistics networks used by narco-terrorists to traffic drugs and spread violence throughout the Western Hemisphere."
The operation was conducted "in coordination and collaboration with the Government of Ecuador," the post added.
In the port city of Manta, a group of relatives of fishermen were seeking information about their loved ones on Wednesday after losing contact.
"They are fishermen, they struggle to bring food to our homes, for our children. We want answers, we want to know about them, if they are OK," Olivia Holguin, sister of the ship's captain, told AFP.
The boat left on Friday for a fishing trip and the crew had reported seeing helicopters and military boats approaching, according to the relatives.
AFP hasn't been able to verify if that vessel was the same as the one destroyed by U.S. forces.
The U.S. military launched "Operation Southern Spear" a year ago, with President Trump arguing that Washington is effectively at war with drug cartels operating out of Latin America.
More than 200 people have been killed in strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean since then, according to a tally by AFP.
The Trump administration hasn't provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has been striking are involved in drug trafficking.
Ecuador's right-wing President Daniel Noboa is one of Mr. Trump's closest allies in Latin America.
In March, Ecuador joined his "Shield of the Americas," a U.S.-led coalition to combat drug trafficking in the region.
