U.S. Forces Sink 4th Pacific Refueling Fleet Near Ecuador in Anti-Drug Campaign
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 6
U.S. Forces Sink 4th Pacific Refueling Fleet Near Ecuador in Anti-Drug Campaign
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 6
Summary
Several commercial vessels near Ecuador were intercepted and destroyed Saturday after U.S. forces identified them as floating refueling platforms for drug-smuggling boats headed toward the United States.
An 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat and helicopters from the USS San Antonio carried out the operation; people aboard were handed to Ecuadorean officials, and a U.S. official said no one was killed or injured.
Southern Command said the refueling network was run by Los Choneros, the Ecuadorean gang the State Department labeled a foreign terrorist organization days after this campaign began on Sept. 2, 2025.
This was the fourth interdiction of such refueling vessels in the eastern Pacific and part of 68 U.S. attacks on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the region over the past year, a Times analysis found, with 227 people killed.